


BTS x Disney

by miraimiri



Category: Disney Cartoons (Classic), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Disney, F/M, Inspired by Disney, Role Reversal, every guy will have his own chapter, i also included some original quotes, i feel nostalgic about this, i follow the disney classic cartoons, this is a disney x bts crossover, up until now i have only finished one chapter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-08-14 07:55:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 40,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8004826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraimiri/pseuds/miraimiri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Have you ever thought about that, yeah, maybe this guy next door is like a prince, a really handsome one at that. But have you ever thought that, yeah, maybe, this guy fits the personality of this specific Disney princess way better? In this series, every BTS member will take the place of one Disney princess I thought fit him well, but there will be no gender switching! Just… role switching. Imagine Namjoon as the son of an inventor in a small town who is bored of the ever same life and ventures out to save his father who has been taken hostage by a ferocious female beast! And then – they fall in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Namjoon as Belle

**Author's Note:**

> SO I rewatched some old Disney classics and then sat down and thought about which Disney Princess the BTS members resembled and I think I found a generally appealing solution. I will reveal the pairings one by one though, so you will have to wait for the new chapter. This time it is Namjoon as Belle in Beauty and the Beast! :) 
> 
> PLEASE NOTE!! I got the opening scene from the original Disney movie, quoting the narrator, this passage of text is only slightly altered to fit my purpose, but has otherwise been taken from the Disney Original!! I also quoted some key elements of dialogue that I thought were important. 
> 
> Enough talking, please enjoy :)

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young princess lived in a shining castle. Although she had everything her heart desired, the princess was spoiled, selfish, and unkind. But then, one winter’s night, and old beggar woman came to the castle, and offered her a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the princess sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away. 

But she warned her not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within. And when she dismissed her again, the old woman’s ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. The princess tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in her heart. And as punishment, she transformed her into a hideous Beast, and placed a powerful spell on the castle, and all who lived there. 

Ashamed of her monstrous form, the Beast concealed herself inside her castle, with a magic mirror as her only window to the outside world. The rose she had been offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until her twenty-first year. If she could learn to love another, and earn their love in return, by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, she would be doomed to remain a Beast for all time. 

As the years passed, she fell into despair, and lost all hope. 

For who could ever learn to love a Beast? 

 

xxx

Namjoon was the son of an inventor, an old man whose ideas seemed to be way too far from reality, but Namjoon had always believed in him, always supported him, and always defended him. And then they had to move to this boring village, full of dull and uninteresting people that would follow her daily routine until they died. Really not the kind of environment he favored to be in. But his father had bought this house for a fair price and was hoping that Namjoon could finally find a wife to settle down; he was afraid his son would end up alone. 

Namjoon was not what you would call ‘normal’ in this village. He liked to read, he was educated, he followed his nonconformist ideals and did not try to be someone else just because he did not fit in. He was self-confident and strong, his gaze always on that new book in his hands, instead of those busty women, eyeing him warily, or those sturdy guys, muscular and ready to punch him in the face if he would ever dare to insult anyone or make a step in the wrong direction. They ridiculed him for being different. 

But Namjoon didn’t care. He didn’t want to change for those who didn’t understand him, why would he? Even if he changed, that wouldn’t be him, that wouldn’t be his true self and rather sooner than later he would find himself getting depressed and frustrated with his situation. So why bother changing? It would be in vain. So he proceeded to follow his own path, wherever it might lead. Right now though, he wished it would lead to an adventure, he was up for something new. 

Those all same patterns that the villagers followed were boring him to no end and there was nothing that promised even something as small as a little change. 

Georgette was certainly something special, but still the same routine every time they met. She had had her eyes on Namjoon for a while now, claiming he was the prettiest, most handsome guy in the village and she stated that since she was the best looking girl in the whole village the two of them were destined to be together. But no matter how hard she tried, Namjoon was just not into her. She was boring. Sure, she was pretty; beautiful even. But her personality wasn’t. And that was not what Namjoon wanted for himself. 

He had always imagined himself to be with that quiet girl, that sweet girl, that kind girl from next door that barely anyone laid eyes on, because she was shy, reserved, but her personality was the prettiest anyone had ever seen or witnessed. That was the type of girl that Namjoon wished to marry one day. But he didn’t know if that girl even existed. He would have to go search for her, because in that small village he sure as hell wouldn’t find what he was seeking. This village was a bore, exactly like the villagers. 

“Hey Namjoonie~” chirped Georgette, making her way to him, followed by her sidekick, Lenore. 

“Hey Georgette, what’s up?” he asked friendly, not wanting to cause any commotion. “Namjoonie, let’s do something together, just us two!” she exclaimed and threw herself against his body, her hands grabbing his biceps, her breasts flush against his chest. 

“I haven’t seen you since yesterday and I miss you,” was her explanation. Namjoon could only roll his eyes at her behavior. They had met the day before in the bakery where he bought bread for him and his father to eat, and she was just being plainly annoying, like always, like right now. “Namjoonie~” she kept chirping, dancing around him, rubbing her body on his, trying to seduce him in any way. 

Georgette had tried everything to make him like her. She had dressed pretty, she had dressed casual, she had worn makeup, she had not worn makeup, she had made her hair, she had her hair messy, she had worn glasses, she had not worn glasses. Hell, she had even pretended to like one of those books he liked to put his nose into. But to be honest, that was nothing for her, there weren’t even pictures in there, how were you supposed to read through so many pages without pictures? That would take her days, if not even weeks! And she didn’t understand most of the words either, they were so complicated and she didn’t want to look them up in a dictionary, that would be even more work and she didn’t have time for that! She wanted to seduce the man of her dreams. 

“What do you want, Georgette?” He was getting really annoyed by her sole existence. Her waggling around him didn’t help. 

“I want you to spend time with me,” she hit him with doggy eyes and an adorable pout on her lips, but he wasn’t enticed even the tiniest bit. 

“Georgette, I do not want to spend time with you right now. I am busy reading. Do you see the book in my hands? The bookseller said I could have it,” Namjoon explained. He had been very happy with his visit at the bookstore. Actually he had just wanted to return the book he had borrowed the day before, but since the bookseller didn’t have anything new, he went for his absolute forever favorite book of all times. 

“Namjoon, you have read this book three times already, do you like it that much?” he had asked and when Namjoon verified his assumption, the bookseller just chuckled and handed him the book with the words: “If you like it all that much, it’s yours!”

Namjoon had tried to talk him out of that, he couldn’t just accept an offer like this; he assumed the book had been expensive when the bookseller bought it and now he wouldn’t even make profit from it? 

“But I insist!” the bookseller said. 

“Well then, thank you. Thank you very much!” Namjoon exclaimed, immediately opened the book and left the store, already immersed in the story playing in front of his eyes. 

“Namjoonie~” he already rolled his eyes again, sighing heavily when he heard that sound. 

“Namjoonie, please, will you do something that does not only involve you and your books?” 

“But I enjoy reading, Georgette, you should try it too,” he answered calmly. 

“I did, but there are not even pictures in there, how are you supposed to-”

“Some of us use their imagination, you know,” Namjoon interrupted her, he really didn’t want to talk to her again, she was getting on his nerves; horribly so. 

“That’s just because his father is such a weirdo, if he would have been normal, he would have turned out normal as well. But what can you do? It is not his fault for having a father like this, it is not his fault he turned out like he did, but it is not too late. She can help you and then you will fit in and be like us!” Lenore said, genuinely believing she was doing a good thing, but Namjoon snapped. 

“How dare you talking about my father like that! He is a good father and he only does what is best for me, but you just fail to see that, apparently. He-” Namjoon was cut off by the sound of an explosion. His head turned to the source of the sound only to see huge dark clouds of smoke emerging from the house he had moved into with his father. This explosion inevitably meant that one of his inventions had not worked out the way he had planned it to work. But if he was close to the explosion at that time, then he might be hurt! He had to run back right now. 

“Father!” he yelled, closing the book and just cramming it into the bag he carried, completely ignoring the calls from Georgette and Lenore, rushing down the main path of the village to the secluded area where only their house was. He found his way around to the entrance leading into the cellar where his father had built himself a small laboratory for his inventions. 

“Father, father, are you okay? Where are you?” Namjoon screamed, waving the smoke away to clear, he coughed and squinted his eyes and stepped forward. 

“Namjoon, I am here! I am okay. My invention has failed me. Ah, it’s so sad, I was sure it would work properly this time, but I was mistaken. Look at this mess,” his father said, clearly disappointed. 

“Father, I am relieved that you are not hurt. I was worried when I heard the explosion, what happened?” 

“I don’t even know to be honest. Some malfunction again, probably.”

Namjoon sighed and led his father outside to take a deep breath of fresh air and let the cellar air out as well, his father would try again later; as always. He was so curious and inventive and really wanted this thing to work. There was a fair for new inventions in a village not too far from here that he wanted to attend with his wood chopping machine, but it was not ready to be presented. Yet. But as Namjoon knew his father would be back in the laboratory in ten minutes and start all over again, search for the mistake, fix it, and try once more. Science and inventions were a series of trial and error or so Namjoon thought. 

And really not even ten minutes later, his father was back, working on his machine. Namjoon made sure that everything was okay and the air in the cellar was clear from any smoke that might have remained and then stayed to watch his father work. It had some weird calming effect on him, seeing how his father got his hands on the machine, the clinking sounds of the tools, just the entire atmosphere calmed his body and mind immediately. 

A few turns of that screwdriver later, a little more oil added, and his father started the machine again, rubbing is hands on a towel while watching carefully in case something went wrong. But instead of steam, smoke, a quiver or tremble in the machines arms, it started moving rather smoothly, slow at first and gradually increasing in speed; then it held the axe bound to something resembling an arm up in the air, there was a short moment of suspense, and then the axe rushed down, chopping the wood splayed out in front of it repeatedly, cutting through and thus getting two halves. 

“It’s working!” his father yelled. “It is finally working!”

And Namjoon joined: “You did it, father, it works! It really works!” 

The following hour was spent preparing for his father’s departure. The fair was tomorrow and he would be late if he didn’t leave this evening; which is what he did. Sometime later he had buckled his machine up on the small wagon they owned and had their horse, Phillippe, up front, carrying everything. Namjoon was waving his goodbyes to his father, cheering for him, telling him he loved him. He believed his father could make some good money with the machine, or at least his work would be recognized and supported. 

xxx

As Phillippe and his father disappeared into the grove, Namjoon sighed, let his hand fall down, and step back into their house. That was the last thing Maurice saw his son doing. He was now alone with the horse and the machine, a map in his hands. The way to the neighboring village wasn’t too far, they should be able to make it in a few hours and Maurice wasn’t worried, happy that his machine was finally working, babbling about how glad he was that he was actually able to go on this journey and how it would improve their life if he was to make some money with it. Of course Phillippe didn’t understand, but it was nice to talk to someone. 

His happiness didn’t falter until he reached a divergence, there were two ways, left and right; which should he choose? He took a look at the map but couldn’t quite figure out where they were, the environment seemed unfamiliar with anything he could make out on the map. And the guidepost wasn’t helping either, as it was so old – ancient almost – that the words had withered away and were illegible. 

“This is weird,” he said. Maurice weighed his options for a moment, until he pulled for Phillippe to walk right. But Phillippe stalled, seemed to weigh his options as well, looking both ways and then snorting, turning to go left, a brighter, calmer way; Maurice wasn’t having any of this. 

“Phillippe, this way, this is a shortcut!” Maurice claimed, pulling Phillippe to the right. Only reluctantly the horse gave in, following the path, head hung low, ears flat in fear. He was attentive. This path was gloomier, the trees leafless, the earth crumbled and dry. Was it him or was this path colder as well? Phillippe was walking slowly, Maurice could see his breath condensing in the air, forming little clouds and rising into the air, had it been so cold back in their village too? If it wasn’t for the scary atmosphere he would have liked the thought of snow falling, but in this scenery he felt uncomfortable. Snow meant their ability to flee was decreased by far. The wheels wouldn’t run smoothly in snow, and Phillippe couldn’t see where to put his feet as well. 

Maurice was worried now. Oh, if only he had taken the other path, that would have probably spared them a lot of trouble. 

“Phillippe, where did you lead us?” he asked, now scared as he heard a wolf cry not too far from them. If he was not mistaken it got even darker by the second, but that seemed impossible; he couldn’t see three feet far, even with the lamp he had lighted a while back. The horse got nervous as well, now his head high, ears on alert, eyes wide. And that is when another wolf cry sliced through the cold nightly air. There were wolves; and they were close already. 

A crackling twig then made Phillippe jump in fear and run off, still carrying that wagon, even deeper into the grove, following the dark path that laid in front of them. Wolves were breaking through the twigs of the bushes at the sides, now overtly chasing them, howling, barking, huffing. The sounds their paws made on the cold ground were frightening, Maurice could not count how many there were, so instead he tried to focus on calming down his horse, which was now blindly running along. 

“Phillippe, please, calm down,” he tried, but it was no use. The path got uneven, the stones and holes were causing the wagon to quiver; they broke through another wall of twigs, expecting the path to lead deeper, but they were greeted instead with a cliff. Phillippe stopped immediately, rammed his hooves into the ground, digging up some earth while trying desperately to stop himself and the wagon with Maurice and the machine. Maurice screamed, pulled Phillippe back, tried to will the wagon to stay still. They were almost over the edge, when Phillippe managed to get the wagon to stop. He frantically tried backing up, away from the edge of the cliff, back to safety. 

There was a short moment of relief, they had not fallen off the cliff, they were back on the ground in safety, both Maurice and Phillippe took a deep breath. But that shouldn’t last long, as the wolves made themselves remembered in a heartbeat, approaching fast, jumping into Phillippe’s general direction, he tried backing up further, crushed the wagon into a tree he didn’t see, which caused Maurice to fall and let the lamp drop to the floor. Phillippe ran off, still carrying the wagon, desperately trying to flee from the wolves. Maurice was left behind, in the dark, on the cold hard ground, shivering and alone. 

“Phillippe?” he asked timidly. He didn’t dare to raise his voice. He only had a short while to collect himself, gather the things that he had dropped, and then the wolves were back. Maurice instantly turned away from them, running as fast as he could. His breath was rigged, his skin burned from his blood pumping, sweat was running down, mostly from the exhaustion but also due to the fear that crept up his every pore and left a prickling sensation in his back. He screamed for help, the wolves were behind him either way, so there was no use in staying quiet. 

And finally he reached a castle, high and eerie, the gargoyles staring him down from their place up there. The gate was overgrown with ivy, he tried knocking and asking for entrance, but this was an emergency; so when the gate opened, he took his chance, got in, and smashed the gate closed behind him as strong and fast as he could. The wolves were outside, without a chance of getting in. They were biting at the iron bars, howling, barking, staring him down in warning; but Maurice was safe. 

Now with enough time to look around he took in his environment more closely. He went up to the entrance door, knocked, and when it opened he hesitantly entered, asking if someone was there, telling about his fate with the wolves and the horse that had run away.

“I don’t mean to intrude, but… I lost my horse,” he said.

He was asking for shelter for the night. But there seemed to be no one living in the castle. His cries echoed off the walls, there was no light except for that one candleholder on the table, next to the clock. Maurice got a hold of the candleholder, turning around, continuously asking if someone was here who could help him. 

“But of course, Monsieur, you are welcome here.”

And finally someone answered, but he couldn’t make out where he was. “Who said that?” he asked.

The male voice sounded awfully close, but there was no one near him, so he asked again. 

“Over here,” he said and then it struck Maurice. 

It was the candleholder that spoke to him! He screamed, a little surprised, dropped it; but after the first shock was overcome, he grabbed the clock that was now talking as well and investigated how the hell this machinery was to work like this. Had those objects a voice recorder hidden? How were their faces so realistic? How did they move? 

“Incredible, how is this accomplished?” Maurice asked, half in his zone he entered when working. 

“Put me down, stop it. Stop it, I say,” the clock whined, while the candleholder chuckeld. “Sir, close that at once, do you mind!” he said when Maurice had stuck his fingers into the clock to touch the clockpendulum. “I beg your pardon, it is just that I have never seen something like that,” Maurice apologized. 

The candleholder, which Maurice learned was called Lumiere then took him in, much under Cogsworth’s – the clock’s – complaint, sitting him down in a chair, with a blanket around, a stool acting like a dog for his feet, and then the pot Mrs. Potts and her son Chip, a cup that was tickled by Maurice’s mustache, served him tea. Cogsworth was following hurriedly, denying him access, telling them it was a bad idea and how they should really not do this, as the mistress wouldn’t be fond of this. 

And as if he had summoned the devil, the door was opened forcefully, the resulting gush of air quenched the small fires that had illuminated the room, everyone trembled in fear – and there you were, the mistress of the castle, Y/N. You were a chimera, the head and horns of a buffalo, arms and body of a bear, eyebrows like a gorilla, your jaw, teeth and the mane of a lion, the tusk of a wild boar and legs and tail of a wolf. In that combination you looked like a Minotaur or a werewolf, but still had a face resembling a pretty young woman, evidently, your eyes filled with hurt, anger, and desperation. 

But your aura was intimidating to say the least. Maurice cowered into the voluminous chair, trying to hide, but it was futile, you had seen him, and you were onto him. 

“There is a stranger here,” you said, searching for the foreign scent. 

“Mistress, allow me to explain, the gentleman was lost in the woods, and he was cold and wet, so-“ you roared, obviously displeased. “I was just wanting to say, I was against this from the start, it was all his fault, I was against it-“ Cogsworth tried but he was interrupted by your roaring as well. 

And then you were right in his face, Maurice backing up as far as the chair allowed, arching further, until he got up, blanket long forgotten lying on the floor. 

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” you asked in a rough voice. 

He tried to explain, but you rudely barked “You are not welcome here!” and even when Maurice apologized, you didn’t want to hear any of it. 

“What are you staring at? You’ve come to stare at the Beast, have you?”

“No, please, I meant no harm! I just needed a place to stay.”

“I will give you a place to stay,” you claimed, took him by his collar and brought him out the door, leaving Lumiere and the others hiding in fear. They knew you brought him to the dungeon. And they were not about to face you in your current mood. 

xxx

Meanwhile, back in town, Georgette was preparing her wedding. The whole town has come to attend, there would be cake and a band playing, led by her sidekick Lenore. 

“I’d like to thank you all for coming to my wedding. Well, first of all, I am going to go in there and tell Namjoon I want him to propose to me, right?” she says, laughter erupting, some guys weeping. She talks to Lenore about the plan to start the band as soon as she comes out with Namjoon. 

So she goes to knock on the door, Namjoon puts his book away carefully to not break its back, goes to the door and looks through the small invention of his father to see who is outside. As he recognizes Georgette, he rolls his eyes, sighs without sound, and let her in reluctantly. 

“Georgette, what a pleasant surprise,” he said, sarcasm evident, but hidden to Georgette. 

“Isn’t it though, I am just full of surprises!” she chirps, walking in. “You know, Namjoon, there is not a single guy in this town who wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”

Georgette noticed the mirror to her right, stopped in front of it to examine herself, brushed through her hair with her fingers real quick, rearranged her bangs, got rid of the smudge of mascara and corrected the way her dress clinged to her body. 

“This is the day your dreams come true,” she stated. 

“What do you know about my dreams, Georgette?”

“Plenty!” she exclaimed, “Here, imagine this.” And on she went about some weird fantasy of hers, where she was married to Namjoon who would go out to work at some physically demanding job, coming home sweaty, smelling of musk and hard work, seeing her in the kitchen, cooking, with a child on her back. She mused about how he would kiss her roughly, dominating her in a way only he could. Georgette got a little lost in her fantasy, dreamily staring into the air, while Namjoon only sat next to her, rolling his eyes, obviously annoyed and trying to save the book she rested her elbows and breasts on; she would crumple the pages if she kept on moving like this. 

After putting the book away he noticed that she had crept up to him. “Georgette, I am – speechless, I don’t know what to say,” he explained. 

“Say that you will propose to me,” she pleaded. 

But he refused, shaking his head, and pushing her out the door in an instant, locking it behind her. As Lenore saw her cue and signaled the band to start, she missed the devastated look in Georgette’s eyes, who was all but giving up. She would end up being married to Namjoon, at all cost!

“I will have him as my husband!”

Namjoon waited a few minutes until the air had cleared and then retreated to the back of the house, opening the backdoor, walking outside to feed the chicken and the goats, while complaining about Georgette and her stupid, naïve suggestion of them marrying. How could he ever marry a girl like her? She was pretentious, dumb, intolerant, narcissistic, superficial and so much more. But she had nothing from the girl he imagined in his dreams. Nothing of this kindness, graciousness, elegance and intelligence. He ranted about this incident for a while, speaking of the adventure he had always dreamed on taking on, leaving the goats and chicken behind. 

Namjoon felt inspired, a little reluctant and reserved, but he felt the urgent need to leave this place. He walked a little further, up on to the cliff that ended their backyard, watching into that amazingly wide valley, that river, those mountains, and the sunset, that illuminated everything in the warmest spectrum of colors he had ever seen. He sat down, dreamed a little longer, relishing in this moment of freedom. 

But it wouldn’t last long. Only a short while later he heard aggressive and desperate hoof sounds echoing from the grove his father had disappeared in. He got up, curious as to what was happening. But when he saw Phillippe emerge from the woods his heart sank onto the floor. The horse was alone, carrying the machine, but not his father. 

“Phillippe!” he exclaimed, approaching the horse fast, “What happened? Where is father?” he asked, panic rising in his body, claiming his throat and heart. He didn’t think twice when he chopped Phillippe off of the wagon, mounted him, and rushed off. 

“You have to take me to him, Phillippe!”

xxx

And then Phillippe led him to the castle. Namjoon ran up to the gate, seeing his father’s hat lying on the floor, he left Phillippe outside and went to enter the castle, where Cogsworth was blaming Lumiere for what had happened, stating he just had to invite him in to serve him tea, what could go wrong? “I was trying to be hospitable.” 

He ranted and ranted. As Namjoon set foot into the castle they went quiet, speechless of another stranger entering. A stranger, young and handsome, a man that looked capable of breaking the spell. 

“Hello? Is anyone here? Father?” Namjoon yelled, causing echoes. 

Chip and the maid had noticed him as well, reporting back to Mrs. Potts who was doubting their story. Cogsworth and Lumiere were already behind Namjoon, quietly whispering to each other.

“This is the guy we have been waiting for, the guy who will break the spell!” 

And off they went, following Namjoon to see what he was going for. When they realized he was in search of his father, they silently led him to the dungeons, without showing themselves. He followed their hints and trails, walking up into a tower. The winding staircase was cold and unpleasantly narrow. He couldn’t back down now, his father was somewhere in this castle and he felt like he was going in the right direction. 

“Father?” he yelled. 

“Namjoon?” it was almost not audible, but he caught it.

“Father!” Namjoon hurried towards the dungeon door, gazing through the iron bar clad window to see his father, pale and sick, hanging on the door, talking to Namjoon with only little strength left. He held his hands that felt like ice. Namjoon was worried, seeing his father like this; he knew he was old and he knew he wasn’t doing well right now, he needed to get his father out of there, at all cost. 

“Who did this to you?”

“Namjoon, you need to leave, now. No time to explain. It is not safe, she is still here and if she finds you-” 

“I will not leave you in this place. Who are you talking about?” 

As if summoned, you were suddenly standing behind Namjoon, frightening him, he retreated to the door his father reached through to hold him, somehow save him from the Beast that was you, now lingering in the shadows, growling and warning Namjoon to leave this place without his father, as he was held captive for trespassing without permission. 

“But he could die, please, I would do anything.”

“There is nothing you can do,” you said.

Namjoon thought deeply, desperately trying to find a way to rescue his father. “Wait!” he begged for a little more time, turned towards his father, staring into nothing as he wrenched his brain for an answer. 

And he found one.

“Take me instead.”

At first, you just scoffed and were about to dump the idea that instant, but when you thought about it again, that might be your last chance to break the spell, as the cursed birthday was just around the corner. 

“You would take his place?” you asked. 

His father was screaming “No, Namjoon, you don’t know what you are doing, I have lived my life, leave me behind, please!” but Namjoon was not having any of that, he stood strong, stuck to those words he had uttered. 

Under the premise of letting his father go, you made Namjoon promise to stay forever. And as soon as he gave his consent, you opened the door, and dragged Maurice away, out of the tower, through the hall, out of the castle, to an old abandoned carriage that moved on its own, ordering it to bring him back to town. Namjoon could only watch, tears stinging in his eyes, he tried to stay strong, to not let his fear show, because he knew he had no chance against the Beast. You were way stronger than him with your chimera body, he needed to submit and do what you want him to do. At least this way, his father could be safe. 

He had only caught one look at the Beast, but now you were back and he looked at you, took in your whole appearance. You told him to go into another room, following the advice Lumiere had given to you. Your intimidating aura was enough to make him uncomfortable.

“I didn’t even get to say goodbye,” Namjoon whispered to himself. 

He followed you. You were trying to make casual conversation, telling him that this was his new home so he could go anywhere he wanted, except the West Wing. 

“What is in the West Wing?” he asked. 

“It is forbidden!” you exclaimed, a little louder than necessary. 

You led him into the room, offering your servants’ help and then rudely ordered him to come and eat dinner with you later. When you closed the door unexpectedly fast, Namjoon threw himself against the door, letting out all his frustration and banging at it, yelling, then turning around and letting himself slide down onto the floor and quietly weeping. He was now in an unfamiliar situation; he didn’t know what would happen next, he didn’t know if his father was okay, he didn’t know anything. He was really uncomfortable and quite frankly didn’t feel like following that order for dinner. 

xxx

Meanwhile back in town, Georgette was still ranting about getting turned down by Namjoon. 

“Who does he think he is? He messed with the wrong woman! No one says no to Georgette! I was disgraced, dismissed, refused, and publicly humiliated!”

She ranted and her depressed mood was tangible. Lenore tried really hard to cheer her up, saying how pretty she was, pointing out her strengths and reminding her how every other man in the village would die to marry her. Her only strengths seemed to be appearance-related, obedient house wife stereotypes being spelt out by Lenore, but Georgette didn’t seem to care, she indulged in those praises, gradually escaped her gloomy thoughts and became happy and cheerful again. 

Then Maurice entered the room, screaming, yelling about someone who had Namjoon locked up in a dungeon. 

“We must go, not a minute to lose!”

Georgette walked up to him, asking who had Namjoon locked up, but when Maurice opened up about the Beast he had seen, everyone around would just erupt into laughter, no one believing him, since he is ‘crazy old Maurice’. Georgette and Lenore didn’t take him seriously either, they kept making fun of him until they finally threw him back out in the cold. While he walked around in the middle of a snowstorm night, yelling for help, Georgette and Lenore plan to bring Maurice into the insane asylum, since everyone in the town knew he wasn’t all that sane. With the story about the Beast they would have a reason to lock him up as insane. Well only of course, if Namjoon would still be reluctant to propose and marry Georgette. That would beat him. Georgette was positive that Namjoon would do anything to save his father from a fate in the asylum. So she and Lenore went and talked to the guy that was responsible, and he was all in for the plan. 

xxx

Back in the castle Namjoon was joined by Mrs. Potts, her son, and the cupboard. Namjoon had never seen them, he was surprised to say the least, but he just went with it, assuming that they were not as dangerous as the Beast and their friendly attitude would mean no harm. 

“That was a very brave thing to do, my dear,” Mrs. Potts said, supported by the cupboard, sending Chip to Namjoon with some tea, which he gratefully accepted. 

“But I lost my father, my dreams, everything,” he said. 

All Mrs. Potts could do is tell him to cheer up and how everything would turn out alright in the end. It was not much, but somehow, this was just what Namjoon had needed, a little encouragement, a little acceptance and tolerance towards him. None of them had rejected him or told him he was weird for what he was doing, instead they came to comfort him, not afraid to show themselves in their unusual condition of being inanimate objects. They showed him how they lived with their state and that there was nothing to be ridiculed about being different as they had adapted quite well to the situation, and they simply tried to live with it and make the best of this situation. 

Soon Mrs. Potts and Chip left to prepare dinner, the cupboard opened up to try and find an adequate suit for Namjoon. 

“That’s very kind of you, but I am not going to dinner,” he said, retreating to the window. 

He hadn't been welcomed very warmly by the Beast that was probably walking around downstairs, waiting for him. She should wait. He wasn’t going to give in that easily. He wasn’t going to change his life just like that, with a ferocious Beast forcing something onto him, that he hadn't wanted like that. He had only wanted to see his father be safe, and now that he knew he was back in town, he could at least see if he could keep a little of his dignity.

The cupboard inhaled sharply, “but you must!” she said. Cogsworth entered and announced that dinner was served. But Namjoon declined politely. 

xxx

You impatiently walked up and down in the dining room, asking why Namjoon was taking so long, clearly annoyed. The servants tried to calm you, explained that he had had a really rough day and that you needed to be more sensible. But they made it clear that this could be the guy that broke the spell and that you really needed to control your temper, fall in love with him and make him fall in love with you so that the spell would finally be broken, just in time before the last petal fell, as the flower was already starting to wilt. 

“He will never fall in love with me, I mean look at me!” you exclaimed frustrated, pointing at your whole body, using your claws and paws. 

“You must help him look past all that,” Mrs. Potts calmly answered and offered advice as to how you could make him like you, like sitting straight, combing your hair, having a gentle expression on your face, trying to indulge in casual conversation, simple things like that; things that you had had forgotten over the years of frustration and depression, the years of solitude and desperation. But you were so close! Namjoon was your last chance if you and your servants ever wanted to be human again, so you needed to dig deep within yourself to find those hidden qualities of yours and bring them to the surface. 

Of course it was difficult for you, since the last contact to a human being outside of the castle had been so long ago you couldn’t clearly remember. You didn’t know how to behave, what to say, how to sit and how to stand. Everything you did could be repulsive to Namjoon and that would ruin their last chance. Just now the weight of the whole situation started to crumble down on you. If you messed this up, none of the people in the castle would ever be human again, they would be doomed to be in this form forever. So it wouldn’t only affect you, but all of your servants as well. You needed to do everything in your power to make Namjoon fall in love with you. 

You had listened closely, but all you could tell was that Lumiere and Mrs. Potts gave contradicting advice, much to your dismay and confusion; only in one they were united. 

“You must control your temper!” they stated. 

In that moment, Cogsworth entered, but without Namjoon. You asked where he was and when Cogsworth explained that he wouldn’t be coming to dinner, you were enraged. Hadn’t you explicitly ordered him to dine with you? You rushed upstairs, stomping and raging, banging the door. He was your last chance after all, why was he being so difficult about the situation, couldn’t he just fall in love with you? 

“I thought I told you to come to dinner!”

“I am not hungry,” was the answer from behind the closed doors. At least you let him be at peace, in his room, without intruding his privacy. That was the first good quality Namjoon noticed about you. 

But your argument was loud and exasperated, you couldn’t understand why Namjoon didn’t want to eat dinner with you, as you didn’t understand what you had done wrong. And even after calming down and asking Namjoon if he wanted to eat dinner with you in a friendly way, he refused, which enraged you even more. You pointed towards the door, looking at your servants in an awaiting manner as if to say ‘See, he is being difficult, even though I am giving my best!’. 

The servants pleaded you to just be even more gentle and calm, be polite and nice. But Namjoon dismissed you again, so you roared. 

“Well then go ahead and starve!” you screamed. “If he doesn’t eat with me, he doesn’t eat at all!” you gave orders to the servants, and left the hallway, scooting down towards the West Wing, where you raged around in a destroyed room, full of furniture overthrown, curtains hanging in slices and everything broken; except for one table with a small dome of glass, holding the enchanted rose, and the magic mirror lying next to it. Everything else had been destroyed, except for those things. 

You ordered the mirror to show you what Namjoon was doing and what you saw was frustrating you to say the least. The cupboard tried to comfort Namjoon and told him about how you weren’t so bad if he got to know you. But he refused, he didn’t want to get to know you, he didn’t want anything to do with you. In that moment, all your hopes dissipated. 

“I am just fooling myself, he will never see me as anything – I am a monster,” you quietly mumbled, carefully putting the mirror back, facing upside down and looked away in shame. 

Next to the mirror, under the glass, the rose’s petals fell to the ground, one by one, slowly but perpetually. 

You sunk into yourself, buried your face in your hands, “It’s hopeless,” you said, full of despair. 

xxx

As the night advanced, Namjoon became hungry and decided to leave the room quietly to go seek for the kitchen for something to eat. He was greeted by Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, Lumiere and everyone who were discussing the incident from before. When Namjoon entered, they introduced themselves one by one and Cogsworth wanted to send him off with a slice of bread and some water, but Lumiere and Mrs. Potts took it into their own hands and served him a meal worth a king. 

After dinner, Namjoon felt satisfied and asked for permission to look around the castle. Cogsworth and Lumiere offered to give him a tour to avoid him accidentally or purposely entering the West Wing. Cogsworth then proceeded to lead them through the castle’s hallways with a lot of information that no one had asked for and some jokes only he found amusing. 

They proceeded into another hallway when a branch off caught Namjoons interest. He asks where these stairs would lead to and Cogsworth immediately downgraded his interest, insisting that the West Wing following those stairs would not hold anything of interest to Namjoon, just really boring stuff and not worth even a single look. Of course, contradictory to what he had planned, that only peaked his interests and Namjoon got curious and really wanted to go upstairs and see what this ruckus was about.

If there was nothing of interest there, then the Beast wouldn’t have forbidden going there. She must have been hiding something. And Namjoon had never been one to refuse a challenge like this, he needed to find out what it was that she was hiding. 

His tour guides tried to talk him out of his idea, they knew what it meant if he were to set foot into the forbidden West Wing, you losing your temper only being one of the problems. Only when Lumiere and Cogsworth mentioned the library, Namjoon was distracted for a moment, he followed them back to the hallway, but curiosity got the better of him, so he turned around again and went back up the stairs, without Lumiere or Cogsworth knowing, they were still talking about how many books they owned. 

Namjoon had only entered the hallway of the West Wing, but he was already intimidated. There were gargoyles standing at the sides, eying him, following him with their gazes, he felt uncomfortable and questioned himself and his ability to come to a good decision; but now he would follow through. 

He came across a broken mirror, in retrospective that was his first clue, and he just ignored it and walked past. He reached the doors, hesitated for another moment, hands held in the air as if he was about to open them. Should he really do this? It was forbidden after all. If he would go back to Lumiere and Cogsworth no one would know what he was about to do. But it was too late for him, his curiosity was strong, and he really wanted to know. So he pushed the small voice of anxiety back into his unconsciousness, opened the heavy doors, and entered. 

In contrast to the rest of the castle which was quite well in state, this room was a mess. It looked like a rage room, where people paid money to destroy everything they could reach in a limited amount of time. This was the room of someone that had difficulties controlling their temper and needed to vent out the built up frustration. Was it Y/N’s room? He was taking a step inside, looking around quietly, still on edge and alert in case someone might discover what he was doing. And honestly, this whole situation was creepy enough, but this room really topped it all. He had never been so on edge in his life, but he needed to know. Y/N wouldn’t just hide a room just because she had destroyed it, would she? 

There was a broken bed. And on the wall, a sliced painting of a beautiful young woman. Who was that? Namjoon was at a loss of answers, so many questions had emerged. But considering the state of the servants and that they called Y/N the mistress of the castle, it was probable that the whole castle had been under a spell of magic, although Namjoon didn’t like to admit the existence of magic, in this case, he had to give it a shot. He couldn’t explain moving inanimate objects otherwise. That would mean that he was now in her bedroom, and the woman in the painting would be Y/N. But what had happened that – 

A shimmer caught his attention from the right. There was a glistening sound and when he turned his head, he was met with the sight of a glowing rose, floating under a glass on a table, a few fallen petals below. He stepped closer, approached the rose carefully, not letting his eyes blink even once. What could this be? Was this was Y/N was hiding? A floating, sparkling rose? Was there a meaning behind this? This would have some importance considering that everything else was destroyed, except for this table, the glass, and the rose. 

He reached his hand for the glass, but the moment his tips touched the surface, you emerged from the balcony, staring at him intently, Namjoon was gauging your reaction. You approached him, he backed away and you then placed yourself in between him and the rose. 

“Why did you come here?” 

“I am sorry.”

“I told you to never enter the West Wing!” 

“I didn’t mean any harm!”

“Do you realize what you could have done?!” and as expected, you raged and screamed, apparently the only way you knew to express yourself. 

Completely enraged you screamed at Namjoon to get out, to leave this place immediately; he had fucked up. He had seriously fucked up. He was lucky if he made it out alive. He has never been so scared. Although you were only a little taller than him, you were quite the appearance, strong and violent, you didn’t know how to control your feelings and emotions, you didn’t know how to handle them, and you usually expressed yourself in anger and rage, that is what he knew about you. He felt remorseful, but also relieved, this was his chance to leave this strange place and go home to see his father! 

He didn’t think twice about leaving, he didn’t go to say goodbye to the servants and was accompanied by your perpetual screaming and raging, although what he didn’t know was that your screaming was now due to disappointment in yourself, desperation, immense sadness, and frustration. You had destroyed the last chance they had for the spell being broken. If you had just maybe given him another chance, letting him explain himself, maybe forgive him, just this once. He didn’t even know what to make of the rose and although he had touched the glass, you couldn’t be sure that he would have done something incredibly stupid. Now you were the one that would be called stupid. He had been your last chance and just because you felt the need to stick to your usual behavior and couldn’t change like this, you had chased him away. 

He knew he would break his promise, but as he said to Lumiere and Cogsworth, he couldn’t stay another minute in this castle, he just couldn’t do it. He ran downstairs, grabbing his coat, opening the door to be faced with strong snowfall, he approached Phillippe quickly, who still waited patiently at the door, mounted him, and left the property as fast as possible, his heart beating fast. He knew he had done wrong, he knew he shouldn’t have entered the West Wing, but the damage had been done and now he had to face the consequences. He was riding home, wasn’t he? Shouldn’t he be feeling glad and happy about it? What was that little sting in his heart? Why could he not smile? 

Riding against the strong winds he tried to orientate himself, he tried to figure out where they were so that he could find a way back, but it was dark and it was snowing so he couldn’t make out a single spot to make locating them possible. And then the worst case scenario unfolded in front of Namjoon’s eyes. A pack of wolves appeared. He didn’t know, but these were the very same wolves that had chased Phillippe and his father earlier that day, which is why Phillippe got scared very quickly and tried to escape not wishing to repeat the incident with Maurice. He blindly ran into the direction they weren’t blocking, he ignored all the twigs that would slap Namjoon’s body, he jumped and wasn’t looking back, Namjoon could only try to sit still and not fall off of his back. 

Then one of the wolves attacked but Namjoon managed to guide Phillippe to the left so they would push the attacking wolf into the nearest tree, but that was just one out of eight at least, he had not counted them yet. The grove opened up, there was a clearing and Phillippe confidently stepped onto the snow-ice-mixture, but it wouldn’t hold their weight. It was not a clearing they had reached, it was a frozen pond and they had just broken through the ice. The water was freezing cold, it burned on his skin and just barely Phillippe got himself together to somehow throw himself onto the other side to climb out onto the shore to run through the snow again. 

The wolves had followed, two were close to drowning in the way too cold water, others had chosen the path around the pond, only one was still following them, jumping from one sheet of ice to another. 

As they reached the first row of trees, though, the wolves who had been running around the pond appeared in front of them, stopping Phillippe in his tracks. He lifted his front legs into the air, at the same time expressing his shock, but also trying to scare the wolves away. This action caused Namjoon to fall off, and then Phillippe’s rein got stuck within the maze of branches from the nearest tree, he was rendered immobile, he couldn’t escape. Phillippe panicked, the wolves had him circled. 

Namjoon needed another moment to collect himself and realize what had happened. As he saw Phillippe struggling against the tree and the wolves he got himself a thick branch and protectively stepped in front of Phillippe, ready to smash that branch into every wolf’s face that would dare to try to attack him or the horse. And he was doing well, until one of the wolves got a bite into Namjoons coat and tugged him down onto the ground. He had dropped the branch and was now unable to defend himself, openly on the ground. Another wolf bounced to attack him and Namjoon could only raise his hands in defense, and start praying. 

But there was a roar from his left, and then the wolves that were on him suddenly disappeared. When he took his arms down, he was relieved to see you, fighting the wolves and protecting both him and Phillippe. You asserted dominance over the wolves, scared them away, showed them that Namjoon was yours by protectively draping your body over his. But when the wolves wouldn’t listen and go for an attack, you fought back. Now your uncontrolled rage and anger was something that would save all of them. You didn’t have to hold back, you could take out all your frustration and desperation on those poor wolves that would surely learn a lesson for life. 

The fight was hard and difficult. The wolves got some good attacks on you, but you were so strong, so overpowering, that the wolves had to retreat eventually. Overcome with relief Namjoon got up and went to free Phillippe. Namjoon looked at you who were looking back, staring at him, seemingly relieved and sad at the same time, then you fell unconscious. He was about to mount the horse and ride back to the village when he halted. You had just saved his life, now it was his turn to save yours. He couldn’t leave you outside in the raging snow storm, lying unconscious and just another prey for the wolves if he didn’t help you. It was his duty. He had to. You had saved him and he had to return that favor. He would be dead now if it wasn’t for you. 

So he went up to you, covered you in his coat and draped your body on Phillippe’s back. Then they brought you back to the castle. 

xxx

You were placed in your chair, the servants gathered around and brought hot water and some towels, worry evident in their eyes as they watched carefully over you. Namjoon sat kneeling in front of you, one of the towels soaked in the steaming water, wringing it and attempting to calmly place it on the bite wound on your arm. You instead turned away, growled lowly at him, went for licking the wound instead and covering the skin in saliva. The servants backed away, they were alert, in case you lost your temper again.

“Don’t do that,” Namjoon said, attempting one more time, not having any of your refusal, but holding your arm in place and pressing the towel onto the wound. A sharp pain shot through your arm, making you scream “That hurts!” and causing the servants to hide further. But Namjoon didn’t budge. 

“It wouldn’t hurt as much if you would hold still,” he said collected and calm. 

“That wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t run away,” you said. 

“If you hadn’t frightened me, I wouldn’t have run away,” he countered. 

You were quiet for a second, seeking the best argument to bring next. 

“Well you shouldn’t have been in the West Wing anyways,” you deemed yourself victorious. 

“And you should learn to control your temper,” Namjoon said, “and now hold still. This might sting a little.”

You were trying hard to control yourself, but the pain was a weird and very unpleasant one. Sure you had been hurt at times, but you were used to nursing your wounds all by yourself, since the servants couldn’t help much without proper hands, but they also lacked the courage to stay with you when you had been hurt, because you usually threw stuff around and needed to calm down in your rage room. This time was different. There was someone there to take care of you, he would see your pain and try to lessen it. Namjoon was there, right in front of you, not backing away like your servants did; he was strong. Somehow, this was his fault, but to be honest, somehow, this was your fault as well. But it was no use finding someone to claim guilty of everything. What happened had happened, it couldn’t be changed now anyways. And Namjoon was here to help. He had come back. For you. He was taking care of you now, and wasn’t that something to appreciate? You thought a lot about that. Even though you had lost your temper again, making him run away, he still came back. You couldn’t understand why. He could have just left you dying in the snow and he wouldn’t be bothered with anything henceforth. But there he was. 

“By the way, thank you – for saving my life,” he admitted, head low and eyes focused on your wound. 

That was something new. It had been a long time since you had heard the words ‘thank you’. There was a warm feeling buzzing in your chest, a satisfied, comfortable one. You remembered this feeling. But you had long since lost this. There had never been anything to thank you for, since you hadn’t done anything to be worth of this phrase. You hadn’t been worth of being appreciated. You reminisced in your memories, how you would always lose your temper, how you would order anyone and everyone around and dare the one who wouldn’t follow your orders. 

Maybe you had been too rough. Maybe you were able to revert back to your kinder days you were sure you had had. It felt nice to be appreciated like that. The fight hadn’t been easy, and seeing Namjoon like this, taking care of you and appreciating what you had done for him… this was something you could get used to. You felt good in his presence. Maybe it was time to change. 

“You’re welcome,” you answered. 

Meanwhile Maurice had taken it upon himself to go back to the castle and save his son out of the claws of this beast. He couldn’t just sit back and watch while his son was suffering; he imagined him sitting in this cramped dungeon, all by himself, lonely and sad. He missed his son. And he was not going to let his son wither away in this shabby excuse of a castle. Determined he packed a few things, stomped through the house and eventually left, spitting curses and boldness. 

Georgette and Lenore therefore found the house empty as they arrived, dedicated on the execution of their plan to get Maurice into the insane asylum. But you couldn’t put someone in the asylum if this person wasn’t present. They didn’t really care or wonder where they had gone, but Georgette knew that they had to come back eventually. She ordered Lenore to stand behind and watch the house, and to inform her as soon as one of them would show up. 

xxx

After the comparatively stormy night, the following day was a really nice one, the sun was shining and the snow glistened under the rays of light. Namjoon was in the backyard with Phillippe and the stool-dog, playing in the snow and enjoying what little freedom he felt he had. Although he was kept here under the premise of his father’s well-being, he didn’t feel quite the prisoner anymore. Actually, he started to feel comfortable. 

This one night had changed everything. It had been a rough day for him, having to see his father sickly pale being carried home without chance to say goodbye, then being forced to stay in his room if he wouldn’t dine with her, and then being screamed at. The moment back in the West Wing had scared him greatly. He himself couldn’t quite grasp why he had come back to save Y/N, he could have just fled with Phillippe and now be back at his old life; that life that he had wanted to escape from, because it bored him. 

Although he hadn’t expected his new life to turn out like this, he kind of welcomed the change. And since he owed his life to Y/N now, that was his chance to return the favor. So he took her back to the castle and nursed her wounds, thankful for a new opportunity. And if he would be able to be on good terms with Y/N, who knew, maybe, this wasn’t so bad after all. 

Following this train of thought he really needed to enjoy himself a little that day, so he got some warm clothes from the cupboard lady and took Phillippe to the garden in the back of the castle to just roam around and feel the cold sting on his face and the snow crunch under his shoes. It was a pleasant feeling altogether. He liked winter. On bad days you could stay inside, in front of a fireplace, read a good book and drink some hot chocolate, and on days like this you could go outside, enjoy the silence and the cold from the snow, and the warmth of the sun and his own body. 

You were watching them from a balcony, wrapped in a cape, your arm bandaged well, trying to examine those feelings that you felt. Yesterday you had been sure you were just… appreciating the appreciation Namjoon had towards you. But now, seeing him like this, the same warmth grew in your chest like before. But he didn’t appreciate you right now, was he? He was all the way down there, not even looking at you, simply enjoying the time he got on his hands. So how was it possible to feel that way? Was it not the pleasant feeling of being appreciated after all? What else could it be? Lost in thought you touched your wound that had stopped hurting and was now down to stinging every now and then, proof of the healing process. You were sure, that was thanks to Namjoon. If he hadn’t saved you and treated your wound, it could be very different right know. You were not sure if you or one of the servants could have done the same thing. You had paws and claws after all, and your servants were inanimate objects. In one way, you owed your life to him as well. 

“I have never felt that way about anyone,” you admitted, “I want to do something for him,” and turning to Cogsworth you added “but what?”

Cogsworth yawned, listing a few cliché things you could do to show your gratitude, but none of them seemed adequate. Lumiere was on the same side, gently pushing Cogsworth and scolding him a little since those ideas were thoughtless and boring; they were in need of something special. 

Only a few minutes later, Namjoon and you were back inside the castle, in one of the hallways, approaching a mysterious door that Namjoon didn’t know what it was holding. In brought daylight the hallways didn’t appear as eerie as during the night either. You spoke up, talking about that you wanted to show him something, but before you opened the doors, you stalled, thought, closed the doors and told Namjoon to close his eyes. He squinted his eyes first, apparently suspicious of what you might have planned. You didn’t look as menacing and intimidating as the day before, you appeared rather calm and collected, excited maybe? Namjoon evaluated your aura, your posture, the look in your eyes and after you told him it was a surprise, he concluded that he could trust you; and closed his eyes. 

You waved your hand in front of his face, to check whether he really had them closed, and suddenly you were so excited. Like a child on Christmas day. Not only had you heard from Lumiere that Namjoon’s interest had peaked as he learned about the library they were now standing in front, but there was something different as well. He trusted you. Now, with his eyes closed, you could basically do everything you wanted, like push him, or rip his head off; but he trusted you to not do any of this. He really trusted you. That warm feeling spread throughout your body again and you got all giddy and happy, biting your lower lip to conceal the squeals that were about to break through. 

You opened the doors and took Namjoons hands into your paws as carefully as you could, not wanting to hurt him or anything, and slightly pulled at his hands to follow you, as you walked in backwards, facing Namjoon, never letting him out of sight to make sure he had his eyes still closed. You led him a few steps inside, stopped, told him to wait, and let go of his hands to walk towards the windows and pull back the curtains to let in some light. 

“Can I open them now?” Namjoon asked, excitement evident in his posture and his smile. 

And with a last look around, you ensured that everything was perfect. 

“Okay, now.”

When Namjoon opened his eyes, they widened as far as they had never been opened before. In front of his eyes was a library, so huge, so high, and filled with so many books he thought it might just have every book ever written. The shelves were at least eight times his size, stacked with books of every color and ever size, he had never seen so many books in his life. It was a dream come true. Sure he had a book shop in the village as well, but it was a small shop, and soon he had read everything that was of interest to him, and even some that he did not take any interest in at all. But this was something new. Namjoon wasn’t sure if he could read so many books in the time that was his life, but he would sure as hell try! 

And when you realized that he liked it, you timidly asked for assurance. 

“You-you like it?”

“It’s wonderful!” he exclaimed. 

And it made you happy. 

“Then it’s yours!” you said, and Namjoon’s eyes lightened up even more; instead of turning it down like he had done with the bookseller he just took your paws into his hands, looked deep into your eyes and thanked you with all his heart. 

Later this afternoon, you two were sharing a meal together. It was all a bit messy, since you couldn’t hold that stupid spoon properly. Namjoon helped you out by initiating a compromise in not using the spoon when he noticed your struggle and uncomfortableness. And thus, a nice afternoon smoothly melted into a beautiful evening outside, feeding birds together. 

Namjoon showed you how to attract the birds around to come eat from your paws, he showed you to be gentle and patient, he showed you to be calm and steady, so that the birds would trust you and not be scared. And during all this time Namjoon had absolutely no fear of touching you in one way or another; which surprised you. Up until now people had been scared by your appearance, but now there was someone right in front of you, not afraid of touching you, talking to you, being close to you. That warm feeling came back as you saw the birds gathering on your opened paws that wouldn’t have been possible without Namjoon’s help – again. 

Namjoon had then went back to the library, and started to read one of the books, randomly chosen from the shelves. You sat next to him, staring at him, just taking in the way he was sitting there, reading his book, until he spoke up and asked if he should read it out loud so you could marvel in the story unfolding as well. You nodded and just waited for him to speak. And his voice was so smooth, yet so rough at the same time, it sparked something deep inside of you that resembled this warm feeling that had been flowing through you continuously for some time now. By the time he had finished the first book, you were in complete awe, unable to tear your gaze from his form, his face, his lips, his eyes that held a spark of something you had never seen before. 

You asked him to read it again, but he just offered the book to you, encouraged you to read it yourself, but… Namjoon couldn’t have known, you weren’t able to read anymore. Your transformation had twisted your life upside down and you hadn’t held a book in your hands in forever and you were struggling to recognize the letters in front of you. Of course you had been taught how to read, it has just been… so long. And instead of laughing at you or ridiculing you, Namjoon just offered his help, went to a particular page and watched you trying to pronounce the words presented in the book; he corrected you, he gave you advice, and he listened with an utmost patience that no one had ever shown towards you. So now he had also been tutoring you in reading. What hadn't he done for you up until now? 

He had done so much, it was time to give something back. And what the servants had prepared for the both of you, was just plain perfect. 

You got a nice bath, a haircut, all while Lumiere was hyping you for the upcoming dance, the romantic atmosphere; Lumiere advised you to confess your feelings for Namjoon on this particular evening. But could you? That would mean a moment of weakness, a moment that would also possibly twist your life again, for the better or the worse. You had no idea what Namjoon was thinking, but you thought it must be highly unlikely that he had mutual feelings for you, as you were still in your Beast form; it was hopeless. For now, you pushed those thoughts to the back of your mind, you wanted to enjoy this night and make the best of it. 

And when you saw Namjoon in his suit, your jaw almost dropped to the ground. He was gorgeous! You couldn’t even focus properly on this amazing suit he was wearing, you were captivated by his eyes that were speaking of excitement, a pleasurable one of course, they were speaking of anticipation, a little hope maybe? And they were speaking ‘Wow’ when he saw you stepping out of your dressing room in the most beautiful dress he had ever seen on a woman. Namjoon bowed before you, you bowed before him, a gesture of respect; then he offered his hand. You slowly placed your paw in his hand, he pulled you a little closer and put your hand atop his forearm, holding you close and thus gently leading you towards the dining room. The dinner was wonderful, one of the servants played a violin, and suddenly, Namjoon got up, went around the table and softly pulled you out of your chair, and out of the dining room towards the ballroom. You hadn't known what he had wanted, but now it struck you. He turned around, facing you. 

“Can I have this dance?” he asked, properly bowed and offered his hand for you to take. It was your decision. And boy, did you want to dance with this handsome young man! Although you were nervous, you hadn't danced in a really long time; you swallowed visibly, but Namjoon didn’t care. He took your hands in his, placed the other on his upper arm and stared deep into your eyes. 

When he was sure you were ready, he started moving. 

Just as Lumiere had promised, the music was romantic, the candle light slightly dimmed, and the room was as pretty as if the castle had just been built. 

And yes, you appreciated the preparations and the hard work the servants had done for you; you appreciated that a lot. Because now, everything was perfect. The song, the dance, the clothing, the dinner, the light, the atmosphere as a whole was just… perfect, there was no other word to describe it. You felt so incredibly good, you felt loved and cared for, you felt appreciated and finally you had overcome the feeling of being unworthy. This was your night and you were sure to end it in the best way, finally having enough courage to speak those small words with a big meaning. 

So naturally you led Namjoon outside onto the balcony. The night was clear, the stars widely visible, the silence welcoming. You sat down on the low balustrade, following Namjoon’s example, and even though none of you could find the proper words to start a conversation, you didn’t feel awkward, not at all. It was a comfortable silence, but at the same time heavy with anticipation from both sides. This was such a romantic setup, it was pretty obvious what would be happening now. Still, you couldn’t find the right words that could express what you felt. 

So instead you asked him, if he was happy, as he took your paws into his hands. And he agreed – but there was a sad glint in his eyes that you didn’t like to see. What was wrong? Had you made a mistake of some sort? You asked him what he was thinking, and he truthfully answered that he was worried for his father, that he missed him and that he just wanted to see him one more time. True, you had separated them very harshly and without giving them time to say goodbye, which now you felt remorseful about. Therefore you led Namjoon to the West Wing that you had told him was forbidden; this was a whole different situation though. You allowed him in there, you wanted to see him happy and you had a good idea of how to accomplish that. 

Far in the back, in front of the opened doors of another balcony, was the table that held the rose, and also the magic mirror, this was his opportunity to see his father. 

“This mirror will show you anything you wish to see,” you said. 

“I would like to see my father, please,” Namjoon said, not surprised in the slightest about the existence of such a thing. It occurred to you that in contrast to your harsh order of ‘Show me the guy’ earlier, Namjoon’s request was so much kinder, so much nicer and just better. You felt bad for the mirror as you realized you had treated him badly as well. 

What Namjoon saw made his blood freeze in his veins, his father was out there! In the snow, in the cold night, without any protection, without Phillippe; he was in danger! He was sick and all alone, he might be dying out there if no one came to help him. Namjoon looked at you with expectant eyes, he knew he couldn’t ask that from you, especially after such a wonderful night, but, it was his father, he had to save him! 

You turned towards the rose, examining the few petals left, the low hanging head, the state that spoke about lingering death. Tonight was the night. If the spell wouldn’t be broken until midnight, it would last for eternity. But what could you do? Forcing Namjoon to stay with you once more surely wouldn’t make him love you. Even though the night had been perfect, this was just not a way to deal with the situation. You had to let him go. He had to go and save his father, so that at least he would be happy and be able to live a good life. You, on the other hand, had ruined your chances on a good life long time ago. You weren’t worthy of a good life anymore, with all the bad things you had done, that Namjoon would naturally be doing way better. How could you expect him to stay while his father was dying out there? 

No, you had to let him go. 

You told him he was released and no longer your prisoner. Namjoon wasn’t sure if he had heard correctly so he asked once more, would you really be letting him go? As you confirmed again, he thanked you, about to give the mirror back to you. But you wanted to give it to him, you didn’t need it anymore, and he should have had something to remember you, as you didn’t want to be forgotten. What would you do with a mirror that showed you everything you could not have? After all, this was the last night and your chances were ruined, you would stay in this form forever and couldn’t leave the castle at all. So why bother keeping the mirror if it would only make you sad and show you what you had lost with your egocentric behavior?

You let your fingers glide over the side of his face gently for the last time, telling him to keep the mirror to be able to look back and remember you. It was hard to keep the tears from falling, you felt miserable. Before Namjoon left the room, he as well took one last lingering look at you, cupping your cheek with his hand, a deep look shared between the two of you; and then he was off… and you thought you would never see him again. 

Cogsworth entered and congratulated you on your perfect night and the way you had changed in just one day. As you told him you had let Namjoon go, his jaw dropped and the only word he could say was “Why?” and in that moment, that one single fleeting moment, you realized the reason behind all that you had done.

“Because I love him.”

After all this time you had learned to love, but the spell wouldn’t be broken if he didn’t love you in return. This one last chance you had, you had to let him go. 

As you watched him leaving the castle, back in his own clothes, riding Phillippe and galloping away, you roared, screamed, yelled all the frustration and desperation you held. Now you officially had no chance of ever becoming human again, this was the last chance, and you had failed. 

xxx

As Namjoon and his father reached their house, Lenore silently waddled away, about to tell Georgette that the two had returned. 

He, of course, had no idea about the plan that they were about to execute. He, of course, was now only worried for his father and nursed him back to consciousness. He told him about you, how you had let him go and how you were gentle and so different from what he had expected earlier. Maurice almost couldn’t believe what he told him. He insisted that you had changed, carrying that loving look in his eyes. 

That is when Chip, Mrs. Potts son, revealed himself from out of his bag where he had carried the magic mirror in. Both were pleasantly surprised, giggled, but Chip was already onto the next topic, asking why he had left them and if he didn’t like them anymore. But before Namjoon could explain anything, there was a knock on the door. Namjoon told his father to stay in bed, then he went and opened the door to find the asylum’s leader, Georgette and her sidekick, and the whole town gathered in front of his house. 

“I have come to collect your father, Monsieur, but don’t worry, we will take good care of him,” he said, pointing towards the carriage that spelt the name of the asylum in eerie red letters, resembling blood. 

Namjoon stood up for his father, defending him, but then Lenore got up and shouted about how he was acting like a lunatic, talking nonsense about a Beast that would linger within an old eerie castle not far from the town. Maurice stepped outside to see what the ruckus was all about and Lenore caught on to his appearance, asking him mockingly to talk about the Beast one more time, how tall it was, how the Beast would have sharp fangs and claws, all the while Georgette was lingering in the shadows, waiting her turn. 

And as they got onto Maurice that was still talking about the Beast, Namjoon stepped forward, trying to stop them, but it was no use, Maurice had already been thrown into the carriage and Namjoon had to stand back and watch. 

Georgette made herself be known and approached Namjoon leisurely, offering to clear this misunderstanding, if – and only if – Namjoon was willing to propose to her and marry her. 

And when Namjoon dismissed her again, the only way out of this he saw was by proving his father right, so he left Georgette standing annoyed, rushed back into the house, grasped the mirror he had gotten from you and ran back outside, yelling that he could prove his father’s words were true; he ordered the mirror to show you, and that’s what he did. You were seen roaring, opening your mouth wide so that your sharp teeth were showing. Your frustration and desperation was mistaken for anger and rage by the villagers, and surely enough Namjoon stating that you were, in fact, not dangerous and hadn't hurt anyone, went unnoticed.

“I know she looks vicious, but she is really kind, and gentle. She is my friend,” he said.

Georgette realized that Namjoon indeed had feelings for you, got closer to him, and spoke: 

“If I didn’t know better, I would think that you have feelings for this monster,” she said, stressing the last word, which of course made Namjoon interrupt and insist that you were not a monster, but Georgette was one. Obviously, Georgette didn’t like that statement of his. 

She stepped up, grabbed the mirror and spread rumors. She talked about how Namjoon was just as crazy as his father, how you would come to the village at night and kidnap the children, how you would hurt people on purpose and how dangerous you were, so that the people of the town would have no choice but to kill you, if they wanted to be save. 

Of course, no one listened to Namjoon anymore, as they were all caught up in the fear that Georgette had spread, immediately readying themselves for a battle, getting axes, pickaxes, and fire, to gather around Georgette and Lenore, and follow them to the castle. 

Namjoon tried to stop her, but it was futile. 

“If you are not with us, you are against us,” Georgette claimed and had both Namjoon and his father thrown into the cellar and locked the door, so that none could escape. Then, they made their way to the castle. 

Back in the cellar, Namjoon and his father desperately tried to escape, but they saw no chance. As an inventor he was prone to find a solution eventually. But he didn’t even have to worry about that, as Chip found the wood chopping machine that was still standing in the back yard from when Phillippe had come run back to Namjoon the day before. He somehow managed to get it to work, and in just one try got it to destroy the wooden door to the cellar, much to Maurice’s and Namjoon’s surprise. They hurriedly gathered everything they needed and instantly made their way back to the castle. 

Meanwhile the entourage had reached the castle, the servants watching worriedly while realizing what was coming unto them; they quickly had a rough structure for a defense plan up and were executing that right away, as they parted and went for different parts of the castle, one main group to the entrance doors that were currently in the process of being thrown open by the villagers and a big tree trunk. 

And just as the villagers were about to break in, Mrs. Potts was back in the West Wing, looking for you to tell you about what was happening downstairs. What she found was a shadow of what you had been. You were sad, depressed, frustrated, angry at yourself, but mostly heart-broken and lovesick. Your hunched form hid the rose from her view, stroking the glass solemnly. 

“Mistress, what should we do?”

“It doesn’t matter now, just let them come,” you answered, completely empty from any happy emotion. 

It seemed to be hopeless, you wouldn’t want to fight and Mrs. Potts wasn’t sure if the servants could handle this mass of villagers all by themselves, but it couldn’t be helped. Mrs. Potts rejoined the main group, where Lumiere already laid out his plan and made sure everyone knew their part. 

And then they let them come. 

When Georgette and her entourage entered, all they found was a hall filled with old, unused furniture. It looked out of place, but they didn’t think any of it and Georgette signaled them to come in further. Slow but steadily they made their way inside, and Lumiere just waited for the perfect moment to attack. He let them come in, he let them reach further, towards the staircase leading to the wings. And when Lenore grabbed him to have some light guiding them, he gave the signal.

“Now!” he screamed and chaos erupted. Everyone was throwing things, punching, hitting the villagers with everything they had, outsmarting them, and using their unusual state as an advantage, they couldn’t have done that in their human form. The cooking pots created a noise so unbearable that could not be achieved by screams alone; the knives’ blades were sharp, much sharper than any human nail or tooth was; the cups spilled hot tea over them from above, while in their human form they would have had nothing to defend themselves; the cupboards were heavy when jumping from the upper floor; the dressers had their drawers to push out and hit someone; the coat rack had several arms to punch; the stove in the kitchen had fire; all of this proving that being different was being something good. 

Within all that chaos, Georgette realized that her main target, you, was not present, so she left unnoticed and went upstairs to check every room to find you, fight you, and kill you. 

It was wild, while Georgette was looking for you, downstairs was filled with fighting people and furniture, everyone trying to make the other party retreat, all the while Namjoon and his father were finally on their way to the castle. In the end the servants had won the fight and had forced the villagers to retreat, but no one thought about Georgette and you, who were finally meeting. It was one of the last rooms left that Georgette hadn't checked yet, and finally, there you were. Surrounded by the things you had destroyed in your evident everlasting rage, and Georgette was ready to kill you, already aiming her arrow at your heart. 

You noticed the strange sensation that crept up your neck, tiredly turned around and didn’t even budge to move out of the way. You knew Georgette was ready to kill you, you knew she came from the village and you knew everyone thought you were dangerous. But if you were to stay a Beast for eternity, why not have it shortened and have a stranger woman kill you on a stormy night, in front of the rose that was slowly losing the last petals. 

You were ready to die. 

Still, the pain that shot through you as Georgette’s arrow hit your shoulder was unexpectedly strong, you were arching your back, trying to reach the arrow and pull it out, but Georgette only came up to you, using your weight and loss of balance to push you out the window, laughing menacingly, following, and pushing you off the edge of the balcony, resulting in you falling onto the roof of the castle. She kicked you, mocked you, wanted you to get up, and even your defenseless, hopeless form that obviously didn’t want to fight didn’t stop her from threatening you. 

“What’s the matter, Beast? Too kind and gentle to fight back?” 

And even as Georgette went to get one of the ornaments on the roof to hit your head with it, you didn’t move. There was only one person who could change your hopelessness. Your last thought was about Namjoon, his smile, his dimples, his loving eyes, the way he cared for you, the feeling you get when you looked at him. He was your very first love, and he was so amazing, you were not worthy of his, and you didn’t feel remorseful in the slightest to have let him go. You readied yourself for the impact as Georgette lifted the stone ornament high above her head and –

“No!” 

You looked up, tired and unwilling, but it was such a familiar voice, you had to check who it was. Down there, sitting on the horse, his father right next to him, there was Namjoon, looking up to where you two were, and even from that distance you could make out the worry in his face. He had come back for you – again! 

You couldn’t die. You were not ready to die! You wanted a chance for a lifetime with Namjoon, at all cost, even if you were to stay in your Beast form. With renewed energy you mustered all the strength you had, got up, and blocked Georgette’s strike, holding on tight to the stone, fletching your fangs at her, growling lowly. And then you started to fight back. 

The weather was awful, it was raining, making the ground slippery, there was lightning and thunder, affecting your sight, your hearing, your orientation as such. Georgette seemed to be affected as well but she didn’t let it show too much, as she gathered herself again, after being thrown back by the counter attack, and was about to attack once more, when you got a good hold on her and threw her off the platform you had been standing on; now she was holding onto the bricks, struggling to get back on top. You jumped at her, resulting in the both of you falling down onto the next platform, filled with creepy gargoyles. Georgette lifted her weapon, smashing one of the statues, thinking it was you. She knew you had hidden and she mocked you, pushing your love for Namjoon into the dirt and stepping on it. 

“Were you in love with him, Beast? Did you honestly think he would want you, when he had someone like me?”

You revealed yourself, you fought fair and without mean tricks, Georgette had trouble fighting you, since your chimera body was so much stronger than her own. And when she said “Namjoon is mine!” you lost it, you attacked her, grabbed her by the neck and held her over the edge of the roof, above a gaping canyon, a river coursing through. Georgette was dangling from your strong arms, clinging onto your paws for dear life; she knew she was about to die. She was at your mercy now and she hadn't done anything to make you be nice to her. Her last chance was your kind heart, hoping that you would take pity on her. 

She surrendered, pleaded for her life, “please, let me go, I will do anything!” she said. 

And in that matter, she reminded you of Namjoon. He had said he would have done anything as well. He had sacrificed himself for his father’s safety. Now your thoughts were back on him, his gentleness, his kindness, his graciousness; and you realized that you wanted to be a better version of yourself, a more Namjoon-like version of yourself. That’s why you decided to let her go, you dropped her on the floor in front of you, told her you would spare her life if she would take the villagers and leave the castle and never return. 

In that moment, Namjoon appeared on the balcony just above you, he called out for you, ready to take your hand to pull you up towards him. 

“Namjoon!” you said, as if to verify that yes, it was indeed him, standing up there, holding his hand out for you to grab. 

You made your way up the roof, you managed to grab his hand with your left, and caress his face with your right. 

“Namjoon, you came back!” you said.

But you couldn’t climb up the balustrade, as Georgette stabbed you with a knife she had hidden somewhere under her dress. You were losing balance, and as Georgette attempted to stab you again, she lost her footing as well, the resulting fall was inevitable for her; you would never be able to forget that scream. 

The scream of someone who fell to their death was the worst experience of your life. 

Namjoon just barely managed to pull you up onto the balcony, gently placing you on the floor, and cry over your body that was steadily getting weaker. 

You looked up to his gorgeous face, seeing the worry written all over it. You didn’t think about the fact you were dying, the only important thing for you was him.

“You came back,” you said, while savoring the feeling of his hands caressing your face. 

“Of course I came back, I couldn’t let them-“ he interrupted himself, didn’t dare to say it realizing that was just what was about to happen, “If only I had been here sooner, this is all my fault.”

“Maybe, it’s better this way,” you said. 

“Don’t be like that, you will be alright. We are together now and everything will be fine,” Namjoon claimed, but you knew better. You could feel it; your time had come. At least you were able to look at him one more time, appreciate his existence, relish in his close proximity and his care for you. You reached your hand to his face, gently stroking it, burning this image into your memory, in case you needed it on the other side. 

And then you felt nothingness, your body turned numb, your arm fell to your side, and you let go. 

Namjoon was in shock, he pleaded for you not to leave him over and over again, he grabbed your shoulders, wanted to shake you back to consciousness, but every attempt to bring you back was in vain. 

You were dead. 

That was the moment he allowed himself to cry. He had lost someone dear to him, he hadn't managed to save you, someone he had learned to like, to appreciate…

Someone he had learned to love. 

Your outward appearance certainly didn’t resemble that image of a woman he had in mind for him, but you had so much better qualities within you. You were kind, gentle, selfless, caring, and your soul was so beautiful. Despite your circumstances you had managed to win his heart, and he was not only amazed, but in complete awe over that human being lying in front of him, that cursed human being that he had fallen in love with. 

“I love you,” he said, collapsing on your dead body. 

In that moment, the last petal of the enchanted rose fell. The rose was dead, eyed hopelessly by Cogsworth, Lumiere, and Mrs. Potts who all felt their last hope disappear from their body, who were now just as desperate as you had been. Only after a moment they returned their attention back to Namjoon and your lifeless body. Why were you being punished? Hadn't you all suffered enough? You had achieved so much in the last few days, you had lived through your punishment and hadn't posed a real threat to anyone, so how come you were still sentenced to death? Your true form had revealed itself, ever since Namjoon had set foot into the castle, you had worked so hard, you deserved more than this. 

Namjoon loved you, after all. 

But apparently, it had been too late.

That was their exact thought when the first bead of light dropped down onto the balcony, soon followed by a multitude of colorful beads of light that were surrounding you and lifting you up into the air. Something was happening, that was for sure, but no one really knew what was happening. The servants and Namjoon could only sit back, stare, and wait, until this would be over. Could it be that it had not been too late? They got their hopes up in an instant and watched with a certain sparkle in their eyes, as they awaited your human form to be revealed soon. 

When the first paw of yours slowly changed back into a human hand, the servants were sure that this was the moment the spell was broken; the second hand changed, followed by your feet. And when only your head was left to transform back, the servants had already big smiles plastered on their lips, awaiting their own transformation giddily. 

And then it happened, your hideous monster visage changed and revealed your human form, resembling the painting that Namjoon had seen in your room. 

You were beautiful! You were even more than that, you were more than Namjoon had ever wished for, a pretty face, and a beautiful soul. And he hoped, oh so deep in his heart, that this spell would bring you back to life. Looking at the servants’ faces though, he was pretty sure that this was exactly what was happening. Filled with anticipation, his heart beat fast, completely banning the negative thoughts he had had a minute ago. Now he was overcome with joy and happiness that he didn’t know how to hold himself back; so that, when you awoke from your near-death-experience, realizing that your body had finally returned to its human form and turning to Namjoon, he threw himself at you, hugging you tightly, nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck, his body still shaking. He could feel the warmth of your body seeping through the clothes you both wore and warming him and his soaked form. He could feel you hugging him back, running your hands from his back to his sides and back to his neck. You were now shorter than him, so much more petite than this enormous chimera body. Namjoon didn’t mind actually. He wouldn’t have minded you staying in your Beast form as well, but this was so much better. This feeling of having your smaller figure completely within his arms made him feel strong and protective over you. He could feel your breath on his neck and your hands grabbing on his back, he could even feel the softness of your skin that he touched with his cheek. 

Namjoon let his hands wander over your body, feeling your every body part under his fingertips and only slowly realizing that you were back; you were back in his arms, and you two could finally be together. 

He stepped back, carefully, looked at you, caressed your face once more, and looked deep into your awaiting eyes. This urgent need within him consumed his whole body, and he was willing to succumb to that, so he moved his head closer to yours, really slowly, to give you time to answer. And when you moved your head slowly towards his, his heart was about to burst from the excitement and the strong beat it tried to hold up. Both of you closed your eyes, holding onto each other, your hands placed at his chest, and his left placed at the small of your back, and his right grabbing your jaw, cupping your face. Like this you came closer, and closer, and even closer, until

Your lips finally met in true loves first kiss. 

A firework started, its sparks that glided back down breaking the spell over everything and everyone that was still turned. The gargoyles turned out to be angel figurines, the eerie atmosphere dissipated at once, making place for a pleasant, calm one, also changing night to day and chasing off this horrible weather. And then, one by one, the servants were turned back as well. 

“Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, look at us!” you exclaimed, gathering all of them in a group hug

“It is a miracle!”

And with everyone changed back to their respective forms, the stool was now a dog, you returned to the ballroom, initiating another dance with Namjoon, both of you back to your formal wear from earlier, celebrating the happy end with everyone watching, joining and sharing laughter and happiness. 

Namjoon’s father was standing next to Mrs. Potts who held her son. 

“Will they live happily ever after, Mama?” Chip asked. 

Mrs. Potts chuckled, “Of course, my dear. Of course.”

“Do I still have to sleep in the cupboard?” Chip wondered, relieved at the sight of his mother erupting into laughter. 

Then they turned their attention back to you and Namjoon, dancing as if no one was watching, there were just you two in this world, lost in each other’s presence. 

Destined to be together. 

To spend one life with each other.

Forever.


	2. Hoseok as Rapunzel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I have followed the Disney cartoon strictly and used most of its dialogue to keep it close to the original! Please keep that in mind while reading, this is basically a movie in letters :) Thank you.

This is the story of how you died. Don’t worry, this is actually a very fun story and the truth is, it isn’t even yours. This is the story of a boy named Hoseok, and it starts with the sun.

Now, once upon a time, a single drop of sunlight fell from the heavens, and from this drop of sun grew a magic golden flower. It had the ability to heal the sick and injured, and was soon discovered by an old woman who knew how to use its powers. 

Centuries passed and a hop, skip, and a boat-ride away there grew a kingdom on an island close to the main land, soon connected by a stone bridge. The kingdom was ruled by a beloved king and queen. And when the kingdom's prosperity grew further, the queen got pregnant. She was about to have a baby, people were excited about the new heir that was to be born, but life is unfair and so the queen got sick; really sick. She was running out of time! And that’s when people usually start to look for a miracle, or in this case, a magic golden flower. They flocked the forests in groups, every single citizen was involved and after long hours of worry and search they arrived at the cliff that the flower had grown on.

Now, instead of sharing the sun’s gift, the woman who had discovered the flower, Mother Gothel, hoarded its healing power and used it to keep herself young for hundreds of years. And all she had to do, was sing a special song to the flower whenever she felt herself aging. 

Flower, gleam and glow. Let your power shine. Make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine, what once was mine.

Alright, you get the jest. She sings to it and turns young again. Creepy, right?

But this time, the royal guard found the magical flower, much to Mother Gothel’s dismay. They unearthed it and took it with them, back to the kingdom where the king anxiously waited on his beloved wife's side, never even breaking his attention from her. When he heard about the good news, he got excited and relieved, now they could save her, and both, she and the child would be safe in the warm embrace of the loving husband and father.

They made an elixir out of the flower’s leaves and the magic of the flower healed the queen. A healthy baby boy, a prince, was born, with beautiful, golden hair. That was Hoseok. 

To celebrate his birth, the king and queen launched a flying lantern into the sky, and for that one moment, everything was perfect. And then that moment ended. During the night, Mother Gothel broke into the castle, crept into Hoseok’s room and sang the song to prove her assumptions. And really, as soon as she started to sing the special song, Hoseok’s golden hair started glowing, shining, affecting Gothel in the way the flower had. She didn’t have any bad intentions, she just wanted her flower back, so she took a pair of scissors and cut some of Hoseok’s glowing hair. 

But as soon as the hair was cut off, it turned dark brown and lost its magic power, falling back onto the bed, just as lifeless as usual hair would, and the effect was lost. Mother Gothel was at a dead end. What would she do? Her only option for keeping her magical flower with her – 

Was taking the baby.

And that’s what she did. She stole the child and went out through the window, right after looking back, seeing the newly awoken parents worrying over their screaming newborn baby. But it was too late, Gothel was gone. 

And with her, Hoseok.

The whole kingdom searched and searched, but they could not find the lost prince. For deep within a forest, in a hidden tower, Gothel raised the child as her own. Gothel had found her new magic flower, but this time, she was determined to keep it hidden. 

“Why can’t I go outside?” Hoseok asked while Gothel combed his hair that had grown to a respectable length by now, all the while he sang the special song so that Gothel could benefit from the magical powers of his hair. 

“The outside world is a dangerous place, filled with horrible, selfish people. You must stay here, where you’re safe. Do you understand, Flower?”

“Yes, Mommy.”

But the walls of that tower could not hide everything. Each year, on his birthday, the king and queen released thousands of lanterns into the sky, in hope that one day, their lost prince, would return. Hoseok would sit at the window and watch, while Gothel was sleeping or gone someplace else, he would sit and watch in awe as thousands of floating lights, brighter than the stars, illuminated the sky, just once a year, on his birthday, which made it just that more special to him. 

xxx

The years passed and Hoseok grew accustomed to his environment, and his hair grew to a length that wouldn’t be considered possible. He braided it to keep it safe and strong, he washed it and brushed it and re-braided it thoroughly every day. 

And now, with his almost twenty years of age he had fallen into a routine and had made friends with a small chameleon named Pascal that was always by his side, sternly watching and assisting him with whatever task he wanted to finish. He would start in the morning, waking up at seven, starting the chores with sweeping, polishing and waxing the floor, then doing laundry and washing the dishes. He would grab a book or three to read, add a few more paintings to the walls, he would play guitar and knit and cook. 

He was content with this routine, but every day, a small voice would ask him, if this was really all his life had to offer? Was this what his life would be about? 

When the chores were done he would go for some lunch and then spend his freetime leisurely. He would solve a puzzle, play darts, bake, play pranks on Pascal, dance, play chess, do pottery, some magic tricks, make candles, stretch, dance some more and keep himself in shape. 

And after all of this, there was still time left to kill, so he would read the books again, draw some more, or rather try to find a space that had not yet been blessed with one of his paintings, until finally, he would open the braid, brush his hair and re-braid it once more. Every day. So that his hair would be strong and healthy and Mother Gothel would be satisfied. 

And was that all that his life would consist of? Ever? Was there nothing exciting, no adventure waiting for him out there? 

Like every year, his birthday was about to come, the next day to be more precise. He was expecting and anticipating the lanterns, but this year was special to him. He had plans. He wanted to know how it felt to see them from up close. He wanted to be where the lights would glow. Hoseok would be turning twenty the next day, he was older now, more mature, he knew what he needed to know, maybe this time, his mother would let him go and see them. 

Back in the kingdom, on the roof of the castle of Corona, three thieves made their way to the room where the soldiers guarded the crown that belonged to Hoseok, as the true prince of the kingdom. They hopped and jumped from roof to roof, climbed the tiles and finally made it to the roof covering the crown room. While checking whether the guards patrolling down in the yard had noticed them, you, one of the thieves, looked down, relieved to note that the guards had no idea what was going on above their heads. Your hair was put into a high ponytail, as to not hinder your work in any way, and when you lifted your head to look at the horizon and admire the view for a short time, it waved in your neck softly. The other two thieves, the Stabbington brothers, who only differed by the fact that one had an eyepatch and the other did not, looked at you, waiting, while you gazed at the view, fascinated. 

“I could get used to a view like this,” you said, enraging the annoyed brothers. 

“Y/Alias, come here and get the job done!” they scream-whispered.

“Hold on, just a second,” you said, holding your hand to symbolize them to wait. And just a few moments later your face faltered into something more of an arrogant look. “Yep, I am used to it. Guys, I want a castle.”

“We do this job, you can buy your own castle,” one of them argued, approaching you, grabbing you roughly and lowering you on a rope, down into the room, just above the crown that lied on a pedestal, having a dozen guards watching the door, but not the crown itself; no other security systems. The room itself was plastered with the kingdom’s symbol, the sun, it was on banners and flags, on the carpet, and the guards even wore it on their breast plates and their helmets. But this wasn’t the time to focus on the sun, it was time to focus on the job. Your eyes flew back to the object of desire, the crown.

This was a crucial moment to you, although you had done similar jobs countless of times and you were quite good at stealing, this was something special. It was a highly prized crown and when this job was done, you would be able to live carefree for a long time. They lowered you a little more, the crown now in reach for you to grab. And you did, quietly so, as to not alarm the guards. Without making any sound, you put it into the satchel you brought specifically for this occasion. And all worked well, you were about to be pulled up again, when one of the guards sneezed. Well, you could have some fun while at it, right?

“Oh, hay fever?” you asked, smiling arrogantly while holding the satchel right next to your face.

The guard turned around, “Yes,” and turned back. Sudden realization set in, he abruptly turned around again, just to see you being lifted out of the hole in the roof you had been coming through. 

“Hey, heeey!” the guard screamed and a tumult broke out, some of them running outside, following where you went, some went to alarm the chief of the guard, and the one with the hay fever just couldn’t process what had been happening, he was still standing there, in disbelief. 

You and the Stabbington brothers were already on the only bridge leading to the kingdom and you were confident, arrogant even, when yelling “Can you imagine me in a castle? ‘Cause I certainly can. All the things we have seen and it’s only eight in the morning, this is a very big day!”

xxx

“This is a very big day, Pascal,” Hoseok said, while organizing his colors back into the little treasure box he used to store them in, his eyes jumping from what his hands were doing to Pascal, who was about to climb onto his shoulder, squeaking approvingly. 

“I’m finally gonna do it! I’m gonna ask her!” he declared, his gaze lifting into thin air, focusing something that no one else could see. 

With the new painting in his back that he had drawn onto the main wall that could be hidden with a curtain, he was balling his fists in anticipation, his courage was renewed and his confidence high. And just in time. 

“Hoseok!” the voice of Mother Gothel sounded from the window, “Let down your hair~!” lilted her singsong. 

Hoseok’s eyes got wide, this was his chance to get his mother’s approval to finally leave the tower. He took a deep breath, broadened his shoulders and hid Pascal from his mother’s view, on the painting, behind the curtain that he had closed carefully, making sure Pascal could still see. He gave last cheering squeaks and then blended into the wall. Hoseok made sure that the painting was well hidden once more and then shuffled over to the window, his mother already singsong-complaining about how she wouldn’t get any younger waiting for him. 

He looked out the window, a short pre-greeting leaving his mouth, and then he took his braid that was trudging behind him, slung it onto the hook that was secured in the ceiling outside the window and threw the end of his braid out into his mother’s awaiting hands. His braid easily reached the ground, Mother Gothel caught it with practiced ease, made a makeshift loop and tightened her grip on the braid. She placed her foot into the loop and told Hoseok to pull her up, to which he obliged immediately. He started to pull on his end of the braid, the hair gliding over the hook and lifting Gothel up, slow but steady. 

It took only a short while until Mother Gothel could set foot onto the window sill that was wider and longer to accommodate to this unusual way of entering the tower. She stepped inside, while Hoseok took his braid off of the hook and greeted her adequately, offering to take her coat. 

“Oh Hoseok, how do you manage to do that every single day without fail? It looks so hard!” she says. Hoseok felt proud about his mother’s praise, but nonchalantly waves the comment off as nothing to which she responds that in this case she wouldn't understand why it takes so long. Hoseok is dumbfounded for a moment, his mother already laughing, talking about how she would only tease him and how he shouldn’t take everything so seriously. 

She was right, he really did take things seriously, but her reaction had hurt him a little. How could she praise him and then tease him as if the praise wasn’t even meant seriously? Was he not doing a good job? Was she disappointed somehow? His confidence started to crumble and he wasn’t sure anymore if he could manage to ask the question he had wanted to ask forever. But he had to! This was his best chance. So he laughed along with her, stuttering a little, approaching her and beginning to talk. 

“Well, mother, as you know, tomorrow is my birthday and-“

“Hoseok, look into the mirror,” she interrupts, pulling him close to her, pressing him into her side and gesturing to the reflecting glass in front of them where she had been standing pulling her face into different directions, checking whether she had gained any new wrinkles. 

“Do you know what I see? I see a strong, young, beautiful human being,” she said.

Hoseok was proud, she had to be talking about him right, he was young, he was strong, he was good-looking, wasn’t he? He didn’t have anyone to compare him with besides his own drawings but from what he could see, he wasn’t ugly at least. He smiled, thinking everything would turn out well. 

“Oh, look, you’re here too!” she exclaimed, feigning surprise and breaking out into small laughter, repeating her speech about her just teasing him and him not taking everything so seriously. She checked for wrinkles again. Hoseok was thrown off, how could she do this to him again? Didn’t she realize that she was hurting him? How could she build and break his confidence in just two short sentences? Twice in a row? How was he supposed to trust her and believe in her when all he ever got was teasing? He felt disrespected, but tried to regain his posture to continue his talk. 

He didn’t even say five words when his mother interrupted him again, expressing how exhausted she was, asking him to sing for her. Well he wasn’t one to object his mother’s wishes, but he wanted to make it quick so that he could go on with his birthday wish. He frantically ran over the place, gathering everything he needed: his mother’s decadent armchair, the special brush they used (a really pretty one, silver, with a pattern engraved) and a small wooden stool for him to sit next to her. He hastily opened his braid at the end and laid it into his mother’s lap, sitting on the stool and immediately starting to sing the special song at twice the usual speed. 

And the procedure adapted to the speed the song was sung. His braid started glowing and the light raced down, Mother Gothel confused at first and then fast to get the brush into his hair, just in time for the light that had rushed through the whole braid in a few seconds. A little puff of golden light blew against his mother’s figure, erasing every single indicator of her age, like it had done so many times already. 

“Hoseok!” she scolded, but he would not let her talk, this was his chance and she would not take it from him again!

“As I was trying to say, mother, it’s a really special day tomorrow, because it’s my birthday!” he said smilingly, clutching at her arm to keep her attention on him. “Ta-dah!” he concluded, waiting for a reaction. 

“No no no, I distinctly remember, your birthday was last year,” she answered. 

“That is the fun thing about birthdays, they're kind of an annual thing,” Hoseok explained. 

Of course his mother was just teasing again, but he liked this kind of teasing way better than that other kind. This one was fun, his mother didn’t hurt him, but she tried jokingly to falsify set facts and Hoseok had fun explaining things to her since he had been young. He had felt so good about himself when he knew something his mother seemingly didn’t. Now he knew she was teasing, but it was still a fun, small ritual they would play from time to time. 

“Mother, I am turning twenty, I will be a legal adult from tomorrow on, and I wanted to ask, uh-“ it was still hard for him, he was afraid of what she might say, but he just had to, he really had to see the floating lights, so he took a deep breath and went on, “what I really want for this birthday,” and under his breath he mumbled, “actually what I have wanted for a long time now-“ but his mother interrupted again. 

“Hoseok, stop with the mumbling, you know I hate when you do that. It’s really annoying,” and suddenly she changed her attitude, “I am just teasing you again, you are so adorable, I love you so much,” she said. 

Now he did not only feel disrespected, but belittled. He was about to talk to his mother about something he had wished for so long, he was about to turn twenty and he should be able to leave the tower by then, shouldn’t he? He had lived all his life in this tower, he had always done his chores, he had always been there for his mother, listened to her and did as she said, was it really too much to ask of her to just listen to him this once?

His confidence threatened to break and shatter into pieces. Hoseok just didn’t have any courage anymore. He wouldn’t be able to make his mother listen to him, she would just wave it off and tease him again and he would spend the rest of his life in this damn tower. It was hopeless. 

A little squeak from his left, from where his painting was, reminded him that this was his chance, his very best chance to actually have his wish fulfilled and if he didn’t use it right now, he might lose it forever. He twirled his braid in between his fingers, thinking and weighing his options. And then he decided Fuck it.

All of the nervous energy accumulated and exploded, he released it in one go: 

“I want to see the floating lights!” he yelled, happy that he finally said it, anticipating what his mother would say, and hoping that she would see in his eyes how serious he was about this. 

What he didn’t know was that Mother Gothel knew exactly what he was talking about. He was talking about the lanterns that his biological parents sent into the sky on his birthday every year in hopes of their son, the prince, returning to them. She couldn’t let him go see those lanterns! His hair would give away his identity and he would be taken away from her, she would be sentenced to death probably and everything she had done so far would be in vain! No, she promised herself that no one would find her flower, ever again, especially Hoseoks parents. She couldn’t grant him this wish, she couldn’t let him go outside, she wouldn’t let him leave her side. Ever!

But she had to play it cool. He couldn’t know what she knew. So she laughed innocently, asking what he meant. That’s when he drew back the curtains that had hidden his painting from her eyes, revealing a beautiful night sky, dark blue, supported by a dark green forest below. The only bright spots were the lanterns, the flying lanterns in one wide, bright path, leading upwards, and a small Hoseok figure, sitting on one of the trees, his long hair falling to the ground, glowing in the same color like the lanterns. It was a truly beautiful picture. Hoseok had put so much effort in it, so much feeling and so many emotions as well. It was no coincidence that his hair had the same color as the lanterns. And it was no coincidence that those were the only light sources and the rest was dark. Everything was planned out and painted precisely. That was the view he had when he saw the lanterns every year. A path of lanterns, rising from somewhere he couldn't see, illuminating the nightly sky, just once a year, on his birthday.

Mother Gothel seemed relieved, “Oh, you mean the stars,” and was about to drop the topic then and there, but Hoseok wasn’t done yet. 

“That’s the thing,” he starts, using his braid to open a window too high to reach to let in some light and illuminate the ceiling that he had covered in paintings as well. 

“I have charted the stars and they are always constant. But these,” he said, “only appear once a year, on my birthday, mother. And I can’t help but feel, that they are meant for me.”

He knew it sounded stupid and naïve. But it was what he truly felt. They only appeared on his birthday, once a year, not any other day, just his birthday, it seemed like fate to him. Those floating lights had a meaning, right? It was a ritual they were following. Once a year, on that one special day, it couldn’t be random. And that is what he needed to find out. 

“I need to see them mother, but not just from my window. In person,” he concluded, watching warily as his mother’s face froze and she started walking towards the main window she used as a door. Then she closed it, repeating that he wanted to go outside in a questioning voice. 

“Look at you, Hoseok. So fragile, so delicate, just a child,” she started. “You know why we stay up here in the tower – to keep you safe and sound, dear,” she explained, letting Hoseok’s braid run through her hands, touching his hair lovingly, while walking to another window, closing this as well. 

“I knew this day would come, that you would want to leave the nest. But trust me, not yet. 

Mother knows best,” she concluded and closed the upper window. Darkness surrounded Hoseok and he lost his orientation, it was pitch black now.

The following few minutes Hoseok spent in varying degrees of darkness and light, with his mother running around and showing just how many dangerous things the world outside held. She posed as a ruffian, a cannibal, a thief, she explained about poison ivy, quicksand and sickness that will await him. All the while reassuring him that ‘Mother knows best’ and she would always be there to protect him from this oh so dangerous world outside with all the things that would try to kill and harm him. He would always be safe in his mother’s embrace. 

“Skip the drama, stay with mama!” she said, and Hoseok believed that she might be right. She knew the outside world after all, she had to know. She loved him and wanted to protect him. 

But her concluding words scared him. 

“I just have one request,” she said, waiting for him to give her attention and then continued, “Don’t ever ask to leave this tower again,” and she looked so grim, so serious, holding him on both shoulders. Suddenly Hoseok felt bad for even asking. He knew the reason he had to stay in the tower, it was for his own safety, so why would he bother risking everything? 

“Yes, mother,” he responded. 

“I love you very much, dear.”

“I love you more.”

“I love you most,” Mother Gothel said, took his face in both her hands and tilted his head down so that she could kiss the crown of his head in an affectionate gesture. 

And with that, his mother was out the window once more, letting herself glide down Hoseok’s braid that he had hooked to the ceiling again, telling him she would be back soon, leaving him all by himself. 

“I will be here,” were the last words he whispered before she reached the ground, he unhooked his braid, let it swing outside the window, no one will see anyways, so why bother taking it inside. He put his torso flat onto the window sill, following the figure of his mother with his eyes until she vanished out into the dangerous world. 

xxx

Meanwhile, you and the Stabbington brothers were on the run from the royal guards that hadn't caught up yet. You had escaped into a forest and you were leaning on a big tree to take a short break and evening out your breath. Then you noticed the poster that had your photo on it, and a ‘Wanted’ written at the top in big bold letters. 

“No… no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, this is bad, this is very, very bad, this is really bad,” it seemed you were desperate about the fact you were a wanted criminal but instead you continued, “they just can’t get my nose right!” 

You held the poster next to your face, for the brothers to compare. They seemed a little confused and claimed that no one would care about that. 

“Easy for you to say,” you explained, looking at their posters, “you guys look amazing.”

The sounds of hooves colliding with forest floor were way too close for your liking by now. Your head was shooting up from the lowered position you had assumed to look at the posters, now almost resulting in a whiplash you focused your attention onto the small cliff in your back. Proudly the royal guard had gathered at the edge, chest swollen under the plates with Corona’s logo engraved. The guard’s chief and his horse, Maximus, in the middle, obviously displeased at the fact that you had managed to steal the crown. They didn’t even linger two seconds on that edge when the chief waved his sword and commanded to chase the three of you into the forest. 

You cursed your bad luck, shoved your wanted poster into the satchel where the crown was stored, and rushed off following the Stabbington brothers. Deep within the forest the three of you suddenly encountered a dead end in a ditch. There was no time to turn around and choose another path so you quickly made up a plan. It would be easy to escape if you followed three simple steps. One, the Stabbington brothers give you a boost so you could climb onto the high ledge above. Two, you would help them get up in return. Three, you run for your lives. Easier said than done because the Stabbington brothers demanded that you leave the satchel with the crown with them, they didn’t trust you at all. You feigned hurt, but it was just smart of them to not trust you, because in truth you followed another plan; but with just a little bit of adjustment, the result would be the same. 

With an exasperated sigh leaving your mouth you handed the satchel to the brothers and waited for them to create a human ladder, one brother on the shoulders of the other. On your way up you made sure to push the heels of your boots as far into their faces as you could, masking it with apologies and grabbing the satchel, unnoticed by the brothers. Finally on top, the brother standing on the other’s shoulders reached his hand to you to pull him up, you just shrugged your shoulders instead, saying “Sorry, my hands are full,” revealing the satchel that you had snatched from them, grinning, winking and running off, leaving them behind. 

You heard them shout your alias after you, more than unhappy about the fact that they had been tricked by you, but you couldn’t care less. Your plan had been a success and now the only thing left to do for you was actually escape with the treasure hidden in the satchel over your shoulder. 

Unfortunately you were met with the royal guard that crossed your way, so you had to take a detour leading deeper into the forest, where you had no orientation whatsoever. Even more unfortunate though was the fact that not only they were way faster on their horses than you, but also they had armed crossbows and you had – nothing. Realizing that your life was actually put in danger at this rate, you sped up, your heart beating frantically, your survival instinct setting in and guiding you further and further, jumping logs and avoiding twigs and bushes. 

You didn’t even know how it had happened, but there was a vine, and your instinct said “Grab it,” and you were like “Why?” but your instinct was strong and responded, “You gotta.”

Hanging from the vine, you swung around the big tree it was hanging off, not sure what you could hope to achieve with this move, but surprisingly it turned out well. Once you had rounded the tree and returned to the prior path, you knocked off the chief of the royal guard and in one swing managed to land in the saddle of his still galloping horse. You adapted quickly, prompting the horse to go even faster – then suddenly your face smashed into the back of the horses head. 

It had stopped moving altogether, its muscles strung and tense, his head snapping around and shooting glares at you, even more so when you tried to make it move again, shouting commands and bringing your heels to its stomach. Only when his eyes focused on something else you were aware that this horse actually tried to steal the satchel from you, probably aware of the crown hidden in there; what a clever animal. But you couldn’t let him win, you held it further away but to no avail, he got hold of the bottom and you were holding onto the carrier and both of you pulling resulted in the tension within the satchel building and building and building until Maximus teeth lost their grip on the satchel and just like a rubber band it shot across the path over the edge of a cliff, hanging to the branch of a tree that awkwardly grew horizontally over the canyon. 

You looked at each other, hadn't even noticed that during your fight you had moved so close to the cliff, gauging the others reaction now. Who would go for the satchel that so dangerously hung above a canyon? You moved first, you needed that satchel, you needed it; but the horse was faster. You tripped it and got ahead only until the horse kept you back by biting your boot and resulting in you falling face first onto the ground. Maximus took his chance to carefully step onto the tree, with you close behind jumping and clinging onto the horse's neck and head, trying to reach further than his teeth could. You lost your balance when Maximus drew his head back, now you were hanging on the underside of that tree, clinging with your hand and feet on the wood, warily looking up to the horse, anticipating his moves. And when Maximus started stomping, aiming his hooves to your hands, you had no chance other than to recede further into the canyon, closer to the satchel, avoiding the hooves that would make you fall. Faster than you had thought you reached the satchel that was dangerously close to falling down, you caught it with one hand, only holding onto the tree with the other, holding it into the horse's face, yelling "HA!" to express your victory, Maximus looked very displeased, when you caught a cracking sound not far from you. 

Both of you looked back to the cliff where your accumulated weight was too much for the tree and broke off of its stem and took both of you with it, rushing down onto a protruding rock and therefore splitting the falling tree in two. Your combined screams echoed from wall to wall until finally the cliff ended in a soft hill that you were able to roll down and avoid major injuries and you quickly hid behind a rock to reevaluate the situation you had found yourself in. 

The Stabbington brothers had probably been caught, Maximus was somewhere with you, but without its rider. He was clever, but you had no idea just how clever that horse really was. So after you had assured with a small glance over the edge of the rock that Maximus was going into the wrong direction you took your chance and slowly walked backwards, your eyes trained on the horse, when you reached an ivy curtain. You wanted to support yourself against the wall to avoid having to look back and lose track of the horse, but instead of a stone wall, the ivy curtain covered nothing but thin air, a secret passage onto the other side of the wall. Again, you had no other chance if you didn’t want to get caught, so you held your satchel close, shot one securing glance back at Maximus and slithered through the ivy, hiding in the shadows as you had seen Maximus approaching were you had been standing. Fortunately he had lost track of you and sped off into another direction, focused on finding you. 

With a long relieved breath you put the satchel around your torso and followed the short passage right into a small valley, surrounded by unclimbable high walls of stone, hiding everything behind, only the sky visible in a bright blue right above the tower that was standing close to a small waterfall, leading into a small river, filling a cute pond with fresh water. The tower seemed both, out of place, and fitting. It had ivy grown all over the lower walls, some on the roof, it had certainly seen better days and the only entrance you could make out from afar was the small window high above ground level. The purple roof looked like a witch's hat somehow and from the looks of the fauna around it you assumed it would be empty and long since left alone. So you made up your mind, and promptly walked over and taking two arrows to help you climb the brick wall you made your way up, constantly looking back to make sure Maximus had not yet found you, entered the window, closed the shutter and turned to your satchel, a satisfied grin on your face when looking inside, murmuring "Alone at last," when a metallic sound and a sharp pain on the back of your head made you fall unconscious. 

xxx

Hoseok watched you carefully from his place behind the armchair he had hidden after knocking you unconscious with a frying pan. You were the first human being apart from Gothel that he actually met and after all the stories that his mother had told him, he was frightened that you might do him harm or cut off his hair or worse. So after making sure you were in fact unconscious he approached you slowly, the pan still in his hands, Pascal always following at his side. He didn’t know what to do with you, he looked at the chameleon that just shrugged its shoulders. Softly he used the pan to turn your head sideways and with the handle pulled back your lips to check your teeth if they were sharp and pointy like his mother once told him evil people had, but no, just, simple, plain teeth. Relief flooded visibly through Hoseok and he dared to move a little closer. He was interested in who you were but first he needed to know what you actually looked like. Your face was hidden underneath your bangs. However, he still was not brave enough to actually touch you, so he used the handle of the pan to push your hair out of the way for him to look at you. 

He stood in silence and awe, taking his time to look at your features, fascinated, amazed, dazzled and confused he took another step closer to you, eyes trained on your face when suddenly you opened your eyes, he got scared and reflexively hit you on the head with the pan once more with a tiny squeak leaving his mouth. 

Now he wanted to hide you somewhere Gothel wouldn’t see you. His plan was to use you as a proof of his survival skills so that she would finally agree to let him go on the adventure he had always dreamed of. After a little trouble of heaving and storing your body in the closet he finally managed to close the doors and put a chair against them so that they wouldn’t open again. Repeatedly he said "I've got a person in my closet," turning away from the cupboard to the mirror to say it to himself once more he got into a feeling of euphoria about his achievement and self-confidently stated: "Too weak to handle myself, huh, Mother? Well, haha, tell that to my frying pan," and accidentally hit himself on the head while trying to nonchalantly let it swing around. 

When he looked into the mirror once more he discovered that the satchel you had carried laid open on the floor with something shiny peeking out of it. He grabbed it with shy fingers and inspected it. What could it be? What was it used for? There were colorful stones and the material was hard and golden similar to the color of his hair. It was formed like a circle and seemed to have some kind of decoration value? He pushed his arm through and let it rest, giving Pascal a questioning look, but after brief consideration the chameleon shook his head, that didn’t seem to be the solution. Next, Hoseok looked through the big milky transparent stones, maybe they were meant to look through? Again, Pascal shook his head. 

He turned to the mirror and with a feeling of epiphany he gently placed it on his head. Was that the right thing to do? Did it belong on the head like the hood his mother wore? He looked handsome with it, no denying that, but what was its intended purpose? Pascal gazed in awe for a short moment until, again, he shook his head. It looked a little stupid, truth be told. 

The next moment, he heard his mother call for him from outside the tower. Frantically he took of the questionable object, placed it back in the satchel and hid it in an inconspicuous pot before he let down his braid to allow his mother entrance. 

"I have a big surprise~" sing sang his mother, still on the grass outside the tower. 

"Uh, I do too~" he sing sang back to her while starting to pull his braid back inside. 

"I bet my surprise is bigger~" Gothel stated, resulting in Hoseok glancing back at the cupboard that you were still hidden in and smiling into himself while whispering "I seriously doubt it."

The second his mother was into view, she started explaining "I brought back parsnips," she sat on the windowsill "I'm going to make hazelnut soup for dinner," she turned around to bring her feet onto the stone floor and continued: "Your favorite. Surprise!" She ended in a ta-dah pose, clearly proud of what she had been thinking of. 

Hoseok was indeed pleasantly surprised and it seemed that his mother was in a good mood, so he assumed that the earlier argument had been forgotten or at least put aside for later. He gathered his courage and started speaking. "Well, mother, there is something I have to tell you," but he got interrupted by a sigh from his mother, who was walking over to the wall to hang her coat: "Oh Hoseok, you know I hate leaving you after a fight, especially when I have done absolutely nothing wrong," she said, stressing the last three words while placing her basket on a nearby table and putting the parsnips onto the wooden surface. 

But this was his chance, he had to continue what he started or else he would never be able to see the floating lights. 

"Okay,I have been thinking a lot about what you said earlier-" he approached the cupboard slowly.

"I hope you're not still talking about the stars," Gothel interrupted.

"Floating lights, and yes, that’s what I am leading up to-" his hand was nearing the chair that was blocking the doors.

"Because I really thought we dropped the issue, sweetheart," his mother interrupted once more, still occupied with the parsnips instead of facing Hoseok to talk about this. She clearly was not interested in continuing with this matter. 

"No, mother, I'm just saying you think I'm not strong enough to handle myself out there-"

"Oh, darling, I know you're not strong enough to handle yourself out there," she coldly stated, finally turning around to look at him, but her glance was piercing, cold, and unforgiving.

"But if you just-" he was almost there, with just one more step he would have reached the chair, open the cabinet doors and reveal his surprise.

"Hoseok, we're done talking about this," Gothel accentuated every word. 

"Trust me-"

"Hoseok!"

"I know what I'm-"

"Hoseok!"

"Oh come on-"

"Enough of the lights, Hoseok! You are not leaving this tower, ever!!"

Hoseoks hand was lying flat on the chairs back, not moving, his other hand drawn close to his body, attempting to shield himself from the anger that radiated off of his mother. She had never before screamed at him like this. To say he was surprised would be an understatement. His body was tense, the words ringing in his head over and over again, not only the intensity with which she had screamed and had thrown her fists around, but also the meaning of the words hit him hard. He would never leave this tower? Never get to see the outside world? Would he have to sit in this small room for the rest of his life, all by himself, serving to keep his mother young and healthy? Was that everything that destiny had planned for him? 

He looked back at her with big scared eyes, slowly retracting his hand and grabbing it with the other, as if to comfort himself. Gothel sighed, fell back into her decadent chair, head in her hands, "Great, now I am the bad guy."

Hoseok looked around the room, tears swelling to his eyes but not quite ready to be shed. He couldn’t be weak in front of his mother now, he couldn’t let her know how hurt he truly was, he just couldn’t. What was he supposed to do? His gaze was falling onto the painting that he had presented to her earlier, the floating lights up in the nightly sky, and his lonely figure sitting below and watching in awe. This was his dream. Why couldn’t his mother support his dream? Why would she not let him see the lights? Why did she not want him to leave the tower? She was going out daily and came back unharmed, so if she could make it, why couldn’t she teach him or go with him or anything besides locking him up in this damn tower that he quite honestly was growing sick of. 

"All I was gonna say, mother, is that I know what I want for my birthday now," he said, his throat stuffed with a lump, his voice heavy and broken, lifting his head to look at her, shifting in front of the chair that was still obviously placed in front of the cabinet doors, in an attempt to not let his mother get irritated by that unusual placement of furniture. 

"And what is that?" she asked, only slightly opening her eyes, her head tilting upwards just a little. 

Hoseoks face was scrunched in frustration, sadness, and fright, his eyes still burning with unshed tears. "New paint? The paint made from the white shells you once brought me?"

"But that is a very long trip, Hoseok," Gothel said, now looking back at him, not really denying his wish. "Almost three days time," she ended, waiting for him to speak again.

"I just thought it would be a better idea than the – stars," Hoseok answered, hesitating before the last word. He knew he had lost the argument and if he wanted her to leave for a while he had to let her know that he was accepting his defeat. 

Gothel pondered about that idea for a few seconds, then sighed and got up, her features softening while approaching Hoseok, who was still standing there with his arms crossed, a shield from his mother. "You sure you'll be alright on your own?" she questioned, and that was the moment Hoseok knew they were fine again. His mother would be going to get the paint, and she was not angry at him anymore. He dropped his guards and hugged his mother, responding: "I know I'm safe as long as I'm here," and his mother kissed the crown of his head, hugging him back. 

While she was getting her coat, Hoseok packed his mother a basket with trail food and handed it to her, then letting her climb down his braid. He repeated their words to him once more: "I will be back in three days time. I love you very much, dear."   
"I love you more."   
"I love you most."

He waited at the window until she had vanished out the valley into the small cave tunnel. Only when she was out of sight he rushed back to the cupboard. Armed with his frying pan he slowly withdrew the chair, hiding behind it and carefully keeping an eye on the cupboard doors. He took a deep breath, grasped the handle of the pan a little tighter and only then did he use his braid to sling around the door handles and pulled the cupboard open. There was a moment filled with tension when he kind of expected you to jump out and scream around, but since you were still unconscious, your body simply fell forward and unceremoniously dropped to the floor face first. Hoseok looked at you curiously, approaching you and then deciding to safely tie you up to a chair so you couldn’t do him any harm. 

After he was sure that his braid was securely tightened around your body and the chair he pulled it into the middle of the dimly lit room, hiding himself in the shadows. It was Pascal who was supposed to wake you up, so he sat on your shoulder, eyeing your profile up and down. His first attempt was smacking you across the cheek, as strong as the little Chamaeleon could, then quickly withdrawing, cowering and turning himself the same color as your shirt so you wouldn’t notice him. Even though you were tied up, he was still afraid. As you showed no sign of waking up, his second attempt was to smack you again, this time with his tail which held more muscles and more power, he gave two smacks across your cheek, poked you with it after there was still no reaction. He was getting frustrated and decided it was time for his ultimate technique, you wouldn’t be able to ignore that one. He sat on your shoulder confidently facing you, opening his mouth and letting his tongue slip into your ear. And boy, did that work. 

You woke with a yell, Pascal flinching and falling from your shoulder due to your movement. It was difficult to see with the limited lightning around, and you couldn’t make out where you were on the spot and when you tried to move you noticed that you were tied up. Just… what kind of material was that? This wasn’t the first time you had been tied to a chair, but this was no rope, there were no cuffs, no tape. Whatever it was, it was hella strong, you couldn’t even budge. Your eyes followed the weird material that was bound into a… braid? "Is this… hair?" you asked yourself, slowly following the braid until you were met with a body in the shadows and then a male voice talking to you. 

"Struggl-Struggling is pointless," he said. You could see him sitting on one of the beams, holding a pan. "Huh?" was the only thing you managed to say. The guy was jumping down to the floor, his pan in front of him like a sword. "I-I know why you're here, and I'm not… afraid of you," he said, hiding half of his body behind a curtain. Yeah, sure. Not afraid. "What?" Cautiously the guy stepped forward into the lit area, showing himself a little more confident this time, head high, pan sinking lower, gazing at you. "Who are you, and how did you find me?" he asked, lifting his pan again, an unspoken warning wavering through the air. You just stared at him and his pan, evaluating how he could manage to look just so not scary when he obviously tried so hard to come off as frightening. He just couldn’t make this work. Somehow there was a glow on him, his face was, despite angry, gleaming and glowing and radiating some kind of… warmth? "Uh-huh," you said, trying to figure out who he was and what he wanted. What was he doing here all by himself in this hidden tower?

"Who are you and how did you find me?" he repeated his question, gripping his pan tighter and scrunching his face a little more. You cleared your throat before speaking like you were from a fairytale: "I know not who you are, nor how I came to find you, but may I just say," you paused, looking at him before continuing: "Hi," you wiggled your eyebrows, awaiting some sort of reaction, but the guy just scrunched his face in confusion. "How ya doin'? The name is Y/Alias. How's your day goin', huh?" Obviously confused at your change in attitude, the guy was looking back and forth until he stepped a little closer, holding the pan right in front of your face and speaking with a strong voice: "Who else know my location, Y/Alias?"   
"Alright, Blondie-"  
"Hoseok"  
"Gesundheit. Here's the thing. I was in a situation, strolling through the forest, I came across your tower and-" you stopped, your eyes getting wide, frantically looking around for something, squirming in the chair, "Oh no, where is my satchel?" you demanded to know, looking at Hoseok, you knew he had to have it. "I've hidden it," he stated very confidently, his right eyebrow raised, looking at you from above, crossing his arms, "somewhere you'll never find it." Unimpressed, you looked around until a weirdly placed pot came across your sight: "It's in that pot, isn’t it," you said, pointing your finger towards it. There was a loud sound, your head hurt and you fell unconscious again.

The next thing you knew was that your head hurt and there was something slimy in your ear, again. Waking the same you had woken before you startled, throwing the Chamaeleon off of you and trying to rub its saliva from your ear off into your shirt with how little movement you had, exclaiming: "Would you stop that!" Hoseok was staring at you even more confidently, "Now it's hidden where you'll never find it," he started walking in circles around you, his face and the pan always towards you. "So, what do you want with my hair? To cut it?"   
"What?"   
"Sell it?"   
"Nooo, listen!" the pan was now almost touching your face and this guy was talking nonsense, what were you supposed to do? "Listen, the only thing I want to do with your hair is to get out of it, literally," you said, wiggling around in the chair to prove your point. "Y- wait, you don’t want my hair?" he asked, obviously confused, pan sinking lower. "Why on earth would I want your hair?" you asked. What was this guy's problem? "Look, I was being chased, I saw a tower, I climbed it. End of the story."   
"You're telling the truth?" he asked, holding the pan near your face one more time but way less threatening than before, even though it hadn't been threatening in the first place, you didn’t even move away from it. "Yes!"

He looked at you questioningly when the Chamaeleon appeared from his shoulder, walking down his arm and the pan and putting itself right into your face, clearly disregarding personal space, you flinched back. He eyed you warily, drawing one eye back to signal the guy to pull the pan back, one eye still on you, even while retreating, he was not losing sight of you, narrowing his eyes in warning. And now, the weirdest thing happened. This guy started talking to that Chamaeleon. 

"I know I need someone to take me… I think she is telling the truth, too… she doesn't have fangs… b-but what choice do I have?" is what you could make out from their 'conversation'. What the hell? Was this guy insane? What kind of situation had you brought yourself into? You tried to free yourself from the braid once more, but it wouldn’t budge, it was still wound tightly around your body, your wrists, your ankles. 

"Okay, Y/Alias," the guy started, placing the Chamaeleon on his shoulder and facing you again, "I'm prepared to offer you a deal."   
"Deal?" you asked.  
"Look this way," he said, pulling at his braid to move your chair around, but unfortunately you lost your balance and without a possibility to shield yourself, you fell face first onto the ground. Again. But it worked in some way, you now could see what he wanted to show you. This guy was pulling back a curtain, revealing a picture he seemed to have drawn himself. "Do you know what this is?"  
"You mean the lantern thing they are doing for the prince?"  
"Lanterns, I knew they weren't stars," you heard him say.

"Tomorrow evening they will light the night's sky with these – lanterns. You will act as my guide, take me to these lanterns and return me home safely. Then – and only then – will I return your satchel to you. That is my deal. 

"Yeah," you started, moving in the chair until it fell to the side so your face got some rest, "no can do. Unfortunately the kingdom and I are not really 'sympatico' at the moment, so I won't be taking you anywhere." 

Seemingly the guy had no patience left in him. He jumped back onto the floor, pulled his braid so that your chair got back into an upright position and pulled you closer to him with every word he said. 

"Something brought you here, Y/Alias, call it what you will, fate, destiny-"

"A horse."

"So I have made the decision to trust you-"

"A horrible decision, really."

"But trust me, when I tell you this," he was now close to you, pulling strongly on his braid so that your chair fell over and he holding onto the back of above your shoulder was now the only thing that was between your face and the floor. This was the closest you have been to him and from here the glow was even stronger, this confident sparkle in his eyes and his- no. Focus. 

"You can tear this tower apart, brick by brick, but without my help you will never find your precious satchel," he said, staring deep into your eyes, the Chamaeleon doing the same. 

You cleared your throat once more before repeating what has been said: "Let me get this straight. I will bring you to see the lanterns, return you back home, and you will give me my satchel?"

"I promise."

Yeah, sure. Promise, wow. Was that the only proof you got from him? You were a thief you lied all day so how could you be sure that he wouldn’t do the same damn thing? 

"And when I promise something I never, ever, break that promise," he said. As you raised an eyebrow in skepticism, he just added "ever" and thought that was proving it. 

"Alright, listen, I didn’t wanna have to do this, but you leave me no choice. Here come the puppy eyes," you said, letting your head drop and preparing your cutest, sweetest, irresistible puppy eyes that you could do. This was your trump card, this got everyone weak in the knees, no one could resist you. No one. 

Except for this weirdo and his Chamaeleon. 

"This is kind of an off day for me, this usually works," you claimed, finally agreeing to taking him to see the lanterns. Overjoyed, he forgot to hold your chair upright so you fell face first onto the floor. Again. Ouch. 

xxx

As you made your way down the outside wall of the tower, he didn’t seem too confident to leave, so you asked him if he was coming, not interrupting your descent. Hoseok was standing on the windowsill, his braid on the hook and in his hands, still in the room. This was the moment, this was his chance to leave the tower and see the lanterns, this was his chance of his dreams coming true, finally. But he was hesitating. Could he really do this? This tower was really high and he had never been out there, but he had always wanted to do this, he wouldn’t be scared now, would he? But could he really leave the tower that always had him safe and sound? Everything seemed so big outside of this room, did he really dare to enter this new and scaring world, maybe he wasn’t ready? Maybe his mother was right. 

No. He was already halfway outside, he could do this, it couldn’t be too hard. If a pretty girl like you and his mother could survive in the outside world seemingly fine, how could you not? Now you even had a guide to take you, there would be nothing to worry about. Right? No. He had to do this.

And then he threw his braid outside following its lead and throwing himself after, going down further and further until just short before landing on the grass, he hesitated once more. The grass was now so close to him, and so green. He was scared just for a second longer and held himself above floor level. But when he finally set foot onto the unknown ground a wave of euphoria washed over him and he ran around, singing, jumping, touching everything he could reach, obviously freed and happy. 

You looked at him, amazed at how someone was able to enjoy those little things that much. It was normal for you, you walked through this world every day, so how come that someone so close to this world had so much fun running around and taking everything in closely, observing and experiencing? It was cute. His eyes sparkled, his face glowed, his smile was bright, it made something in your heart swell with fondness. And then he was out the tunnel with you following close. He seemed genuinely happy. 

"I can't believe I did this!" he yelled again and again and this was where your journey began. 

During your walk you couldn’t help but notice his mood swings, ranging from this overjoyed happy emotion and yelling to deepest depressive episodes about how his mother would find out and he would break her heart. Over and over this cycle repeated and it seemed exhausting, how was he not exhausted by this? He still kept going on and on about how this was the best day of his life, not two minutes after he had sat sulking in a corner and drawing circles with his finger into the dirt. 

This was the time you just had to walk up to him and talk about this issue. You cleared your throat carefully and squatted down to be face to face with the guy. "You know, I can't help but notice you seem a little at war with yourself here," you carefully formulated. "I'm only picking up bits and pieces here," *cough* yeah sure, "Overprotective mother, forbidden roadtrips, I mean this is serious stuff." You were back to standing now, looking down at him, taking in his sullen form. He looked at you with sad eyes and you had to admit, maybe his puppy eyes were better than yours. How could a human being look so sad? 

"But let me ease your conscience, this is part of growing up. A little rebellion, a little adventure, that's good, healthy even," you said, shoving away the Chamaeleon that had climbed onto your shoulder. "You think?" he asked, smiling again. "I know, trust me. Did your mother deserve it? No. Would this break her heart and crush her soul? Of course! But you just got to do it," he said.

"Break her heart?"

"In half," you said, taking a berry from the shrub next to you, eyeing it. 

"Crush her soul?"

"Like a berry," you stated, doing the same with the berry between your fingers, earning a despicable squelching sound. 

"She would be hearbroken, you're right," he said, in shock over what you had just said. You put your arms around him and helped him stand up. "I am. Alright, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm letting you out of the deal," you turned your back to him and started walking back. "What?"

"That's right, but don't thank me. We just turn around and get you home. Here, pan and frog. I get back my satchel, you get back your mother-son relationship based on mutual trust and voila, we part ways as unlikely friends," you explained, pushing him along the way when he revolted, "No, I am seeing these lanterns."

You were throwing your arms up in desperation: "Oh come on, what is it gonna take for me to get my satchel back?" and his only answer was the pan back in your face with a glowing gaze and a daring comment: "I will use this."

The tension broke when the nearby shrub suddenly moved, something obviously hiding in there and threatening to come out. Hoseok quickly hid behind you, clinging to you, the pan in front of both of you, whisper-screaming: "Is this ruffians? Thugs? Did they come for me?"

And out of the shadows jumped a cute little bunny, looking up at them with his cute little eyes. How anti-climactic. You looked back to him and teasingly said: "Stay calm, it can probably smell fear." He loosened up his tensed body, holding his pan in front of his chest, seemingly ashamed, not looking into your eyes, apologizing. "I'm just a little bit… jumpy," he explained, now looking back at you.

A sudden idea hit you and it was the easiest and fastest way to get your satchel bag. "We should probably avoid ruffians and thugs, though," and he agreed. "Are you hungry? I know a great place for lunch," you asked with newly found vigor. "Where?"   
"Oh, don't you worry. You will know it, when you smell it," you claimed and pulled him in the direction you knew was right.

xxx

Meanwhile, Maximus was still looking for you, with his snout on the ground he was following the track of your smell, when he was confronted with your picture on a 'wanted' sign. And when Maximus hid the ridiculous nose he recognized your face, this was you, although the picture didn't seem to have caught all of your features correctly. In anger he chewed the paper into pieces. The resounding crack from someone stepping on a branch had him look up and direct his ears to locate the source of the sound. He quickly hid behind a rock and when the one who stepped onto the branch, whom he assumed was you, he jumped over and yelled, ready to catch you and – oh, it was not you. It was just a woman with black hair and a coat, probably on a road trip, how disappointing. Maximus instantly turned away from her and continued his search. 

The woman, though, was Gothel and when she recognized Maximus as a palace horse without it's rider she was quick to draw a conclusion and worry about Hoseok, who still was the prince of the nearby kingdom. What if the guards had found him, recognized him, and had taken him away, back to the palace? What would become of her flower? She turned around on the spot and ran back to the tower, screaming Hoseoks name when arriving, asking him to let his hair down. And when there was no sign of him, she yelled once more, but after a few more seconds passed, she got anxious, ran to the back of the tower where the actual entrance was not only hidden but also closed up with a makeshift wall she had built herself, destroyed the wall and got into the tower, ran upstairs and entered the room, frantically looking for Hoseok, in every corner of the tower, desperate at the loss. 

A sparkle caught her eye, there was something hidden beneath the wooden steps leading to the bedrooms. It was the satchel that Hoseok had hidden and now Gothel had found it. Glancing inside she recognized the crown as the one that he had been supposed to be wearing by now. But if he had seen this, if he had hidden this, didn’t that mean that in some way, the royal family was involved in his disappearance? Clues, she needed more clues and that's when she found your 'wanted' poster. Oh no, not like this, she was not going to lose her flower like this, she decided, got to her nightstand and took out the dagger she had hidden in there, and then made her way out again, with the satchel at hand, looking for Hoseok and you. 

Meanwhile, you two had found the 'Snuggly Duckling', a known hideout spot for your kind of people. From the outside it was cute and nondescript, perfect to lure him inside, get him the scare of his lifetime and make him wanting to go back immediately. This plan was genius, of course, it was your plan after all. And when you opened the door, confidently yelling, "Garcon, your finest table, please," Hoseok realized what he had gotten into. This place was loaded with ruffians and thugs, all of them carrying weapons, shields, armor, scars, wounds, and most importantly, a really mean face. Hoseok was scared immediately, holding his non-threatening pan in front of him, while you pushed him further inside, very aware of the looks you two were given. You explained to him that this smell was a mixture of man smell and really bad man smell, somehow smelling like the color brown; you led him in even further, when one of the guys grabbed his braid, expressing just how long it was. "He is growing it out. Is that blood in your mustache? Blondie look at the blood in his mustache! Good sir, that's a lot of blood!" you exclaimed, this was working even better than you thought. 

With him all scared and frightened you took your chance to approach him slowly: "Hey, you don't look so good, Blondie. Maybe we should get you home, call it a day. This is a five star join after all, and if you can't handle this place, maybe you are better off in your tower," you explained, carefully pulling him towards the exit when suddenly the door slammed closed and you were faced with one of the posters. A really really really buff and big man looked at you and asked with a really really really low voice: "Is this you?" His hand was on your poster-face and you immediately recognized it, but since they never got your nose right, chances were high that this, too, had a ridiculous nose drawn on it, so you moved his finger that hid that particular area and revealed a long nose quite like Pinocchio had. "Aw, now you're being mean to me."

"Oh, it's her, alright," another ruffian stated from behind, ordered another one to go get the guards and came closer. "Those coins gonna buy me a new hook," he stated, grabbing you by your collar and holding his hook he had for a hand right at your throat. When another thug grabbed you and decided that he needed the money more, a fight about you emerged. This is not how you had wished a bunch of guys to fight for you. This was way different than what you had in mind. They pulled on your limbs, each in another direction, and you had no chance but to let them do, all your disapproval went unheard. Hoseok, too, joined the tumult, first trying to talk to them, but when that didn’t work, he used his braid to pull back a branch that was hanging low and then letting it smack onto the first ruffian's head with force. It got eerily silent in a second. 

Everyone looked at him now. "Put her down!" he yelled. "Okay, I don't know where I am and I need her to take me to see the lanterns, because I have been dreaming about them my entire life! Find your humanity! Haven't any of you ever had a dream?"

The tension was thick when the first ruffian pulled his axe from his back and neared Hoseok. You had been placed with your shirt on a hook to keep you in place, you were able to oversee the whole scene. When the ruffian was now a step away from Hoseok he looked up, nowhere in particular and explained with a rough voice: "I had a dream, once." He threw his axe to draw the attention of the accordion player to him who immediately started to play, trembling. And then they started to sing. They fucking started to sing, you couldn't believe what you saw. 

Apparently all of them had a dream, and not a dream like "I wanna rule the world" but more of a "I want to a pianist" or "I am collecting unicorn figurines". It was ridiculous to look at, cringe-worthy and somehow gross in a way? You were still hanging from the hook, clearly not wanting to join this stupid sing-a-long. But when they asked you if you had a dream as well and you declined, they joined swords along your throat made you change your mind and suddenly you were singing along about how you wanted to be all alone on an island with lots and lots of money to keep you company. That's the best you had. 

No one had realized that Gothel had been lured by the jolly music and singing she had heard coming from the ruffians hideout and she was now watching through the window, recognizing Hoseoks voice amongst all the other voices. 

As soon as they had finished the door burst open with the one thug that had been sent to get the guards with a few of them following him. You reacted immediately, pulling Hoseok behind the bar to hide from them in fear. 

"Where is Y/Alias, where is she?" the guards chief screamed. "I know she is in here somewhere. Find her, turn the place upside down," he yelled orders, slamming his fist on the counter beneath which you two were currently hiding. When you glanced above the counter carefully to evaluate the situation and find a way out of it, two more guards came in, leading the Stabbington Brothers in cuffs. You hid quickly when you recognized them. No way out. This was dangerous and you would probably die. 

The hook of the first ruffian suddenly intruded your field of vision, you looked up at him and he pointed with his eyes towards a part of the floor with a duckling pointed onto that opened and revealed a tunnel dug beneath when he pulled one of the levers that looked like it would poor beer. Shielded by the other ruffians no one noticed what happened behind the bar and you were surprised but also relieved to realize that the ruffians and thugs were actually helping you. This was rare. Just like you did to the Stabbington Brothers you had assumed they would call on you and give you into the hands of the guards to save their own asses. But this was different. A warm feeling of gratefulness developed in your stomach, then the ruffian's words took you back to reality. "Go, live your dream," he supported. You thought he was talking to you so you responded: "I will," but instead he coldly said: "Your dream stinks, I was talking to her." Annoyed you crawled forward and Hoseok only lingered for a second longer, hugging the ruffian and thanking him with all his heart. 

The guards were indeed turning the place upside down looking for you, the ruffians had your back and distracted them so they wouldn’t find the hidden entrance, and everything was going well until another guard stepped into the establishment. 

"Maximus," the guards' chief shouted. And as he had done before, Maximus was following the track of your smell, the snout on the ground, until he found what he was looking for. He pointed over the counter onto the wooden floor panel with the duckling on it and when none of the guards caught on what he meant, he sighed and pushed the lever to reveal the hidden tunnel. "A passage! Come on, men, let's go," the chief commanded, leaving one of the guards behind to look after the Stabbington Brothers who easily overpowered him and used his weapon to open their cuffs expertly. Not the first time they had done this, obviously. And after exchanging a few glances they were off to follow you through the passage as well.

Gothel got herself a way to follow you as well, when she encountered a drunk ruffian who was easy to threaten she held the dagger in his face and demanded to know where the secret tunnel ended. Drunk men were so easily fooled and manipulated by a pretty appearance and so easily lured in with a flirty voice. 

xxx

"Well, I gotta say, I didn’t think you had this in you, back there, that was impressive," you said, Hoseok had really surprised you and you felt lucky to have him around, otherwise this could have ended really badly. Like for those folks whose skeletons you were walking across with swords in their chests and their skulls far away from their bodies… 

Hoseok yelled "I know," overjoyed and proud, retracted quickly and clamly stated "I know," once more with a small shoulder move as if it was no big deal. He was cute in a way. 

"So, Y/Alias, where are you from?" he asked, but you immediately declined and explained that you didn’t do backstories despite becoming very interested in his. "I know I am not supposed to ask about the hair, or the mother, and frankly I am just too scared to ask about the frog-"   
"Chamaeleon."   
"Nuance, here's my question though. If you want to see the lanterns so badly, why haven't you gone before?" That was a good question indeed and it had been nagging you for quite a while now. Hoseok seemed at a loss of words but was interrupted in his thought process as a small stone fell from the ceiling onto his head. He looked up in surprise and only then noticed the small tremors going through the rock. Looking back you two noticed the guards coming after you, apparently all of them had taken on the chase and were determined to catch you. They were yelling your alias and even the horse seemed to be with them.

Without further ado you two started running, desperately collecting his braid so it wouldn’t hinder him, screaming "Run!" and dashing through the nearest exit. You found yourself at a dam, on a small area with a rope ladder leading down into a valley where from another exit the Stabbington Brothers appeared. The only other exit was behind them and that was your only way out if you didn’t want to follow the valley further. 

"Who's that?" Hoseok asked pointing towards the Stabbington Brothers. 

"Uhm, they don't like me," you explained.

Then the guards appeared from behind you, "And who is that?" 

"They don't like me either."

Maximus followed, "Who is that?" Hoseok asked. 

You grabbed his shoulders: "Let's just assume for a moment that everyone in here doesn't like me," you stated. Hoseok let his braid fall down, pushed his pan inside your hands "Here," and hiked it around a beam reaching out of the wooden dam. He jumped over to another platform with so much ease, you could only stand there in amazement. How did he do that? He was so confident and strong, much different to how you expected him to be and it caught you in awe. The guards' chief spoke up and you had to fight them off with the pan which worked surprisingly well until you were met with Maximus. This was a weird day, now you were fighting a horse with a sword in his mouth and you were only armed with a pan? And damn, this horse was a good sword fighter, where did he learn- he managed to fight the pan out of your hands. You lost against the stupid horse, the pan fell into the valley and only thanks to Hoseok who threw his braid over to you and pulled you off the platform into the valley right in between the Stabbington Brothers, that you escaped onto a wooden waterway. You tightly held the braid in your hands and shouted over to Hoseok to jump, and the same way Hoseok had let you down from that platform, you were now securing him on his braid, he only needed to jump. A little frightened you noticed that Maximus had loosened one of the beams securing the dam and was using it as a bridge to approach Hoseok fast. But he ran towards the edge and without a second thought he jumped off and glided safely towards the ground, tightly holding onto the braid, which was only held by you. He trusted you. You had only known each other for a few hours and he trusted you to get him down from a pretty high platform into the valley and just jumped off giving his life into your hands. That fondness came back. And when you had made sure that he had safely reached the ground level, you made your way down as well. And together, the braid in his arms, you made your way over to the other exit. 

With a loud cracking sound, the dam broke behind you, washing away the guards, Maximus, the pan, the Stabbington Brothers and smashed against a towering rock that fell against the sheer force of the collected water and collapsed. You ran and reached the exit which was actually an entrance to a mine, shortly before the collapsed rock blocked it, no way out, pan floating in the water that was slowly but steadily rising. This wasn't a mine, it was just a small room, barely ten meters in diameter and it was dark, really dark and the water was rising and rising and SHIT this wasn’t how it was supposed to go, there just had to be a way out of here. 

Quickly you dove beneath water level, while Hoseok frantically pushed and poked on the rock walls surrounding you. You, as well, tried your luck with those after you hadn't found anything beneath the water, but after two tries, and a wound on your hand thanks to that stupidly sharp edge on the rock, you had to admit that there was nothing that could be done. After one last desperate attempt to find a way under water you came back up, pushing your ponytail from your face onto your back again.

"It's no use, I can't see anything."

When Hoseok dived down you immediately pulled him back above water level, taking his face into your hands, looking at him in this dark cave, carefully pushing his hair out of his eyes: "Hey, there's no point, it's pitch black down there."

As realization sunk in, you two pushed your backs against the rock wall, sighing, throwing heads back and desperately trying to not freak out. This was the end. You would drown in here. 

"This is all my fault," Hoseok started, holding his hand to his head, whether it was out of shame or desperation or fear or sadness, he didn’t know. "She was right, I should never have done this." He was talking about his mother Gothel. She had warned him that the outside world was dangerous. He didn’t listen. This is what you get when you don’t listen to your mother. His hand fell back down, he started sobbing and tried to hold the tears back with the back of his hand shielding his eyes: "I-I'm so, sorry Y/Alias."

"Y/N."

Hoseok stopped sobbing at once, looked up at you, taking you in: "What?"

"My real name is Y/N Y/LN. Someone might as well know."

You had lived with your alias for so long, now revealing your true identity felt weird but relieving. Well, since you both were about to take that secret to your graves, you didn’t care all too much for it, so you just bathed in the good part of the feeling emerging in your chest and trying to push down the fear. Actually you might have just been feeling like bathing because the water level had now risen to your shoulders and this were the last few seconds of your life. You felt like you needed to prepare yourself, but you just didn’t know how. This wasn’t the first dangerous situation you had been in but you had always known a way out, this was different. This was the first time you were truly desperate and didn’t know what to do. So you looked back at Hoseok, gauging his reaction to the information you had revealed.

He chuckled, "I have magic hair that glows when I sing," revealing a secret that he had hidden from you, reciprocating the feeling of mutual trust now lingering in the-

Glows? "What?" Hoseok seemed to have caught on to something there. He repeated: "I have magic hair that glows when I sing!" he almost screamed it at you, quickly starting to do just that.

Flower, gleam and glow, let your power shine-

And they took their last breaths when the water inevitably filled the whole cave up to the ceiling. It was cold and pitch black for a moment. The second you recognized the shine of light through your closed eyelids you opened them, surprised to find Hoseok and Pascal, holding their breaths while Hoseoks braid was actually glowing from start to end. You accidentally released the air you had been holding in a surprised: "Whoa!" but quickly looked around in the now lit area to find an escape. 

And, really, in the lowest corner Hoseoks braid was sucked in slightly which meant that the water was escaping there, meaning that this was their way out. A glance to Hoseok reassured you that he was thinking the same, and in the slowly fading light of his hair, you two worked the stones blocking the path out of the way, desperate when it turned pitch black again, worried you might not make it but finally your hand reached through into thin air, pushing the last few rocks aside, resulting in the water leaving the cave like it had done with the dam and taking you two with it into the river below. 

You pulled yourselves onto the river bank, gasping, coughing, fighting for the fresh air that was filling your lungs again, soothing the burning pain lingering there. 

"We made it," Hoseok said, Pascal and his pan next to him.

"His hair glows," you said in shock.

"We're alive, we made it!"

"I didn’t see this coming, his hair actually glows," you repeated, now talking to Pascal. 

"Y/N!"

"Why does his hair glow?!"

"Y/N!"

"What?"

"It doesn’t just… glow," Hoseok explained, Pascal now had his gaze focused on you with a weird smug expression. 

"Why is he smiling at me?" you asked with a weak, teary voice, your hair all over the place, holding your wounded hand. 

Gothel waited at the exit of the secret tunnel that the old drunk ruffian had revealed to her, dagger in her hand. But instead of you and Hoseok, the two Stabbington Brothers emerged, she hid behind a rock and observed what they were doing. 

"I'll kill her, I will kill that Y/Alias." That was the clue she needed. She could use those two to get you out of the way and get Hoseok back to herself. When they talked about the crown that she still had safely hidden in the satchel over her shoulder couldn’t believe how perfectly everything was playing together for her. She revealed herself to them, offered them the crown and then lured them into her manipulative play and explained how they could get something worth a thousand crowns und would make them rich beyond belief and the riches wouldn’t even be the best part about it. The best part, obviously, was their revenge on you.

xxx

You and Hoseok had setup a campfire, sitting on a fallen tree in front of it, while Hoseok was busy wrapping his braid around his wounded hand which looked very cryptic and mysterious to you; kinda cool too, but you held that a secret, no one needed to know. 

He looked at you very intensely when he was done. "Just. Don't. Freak. Out." You weren’t freaking out up until now that he said it. What would be happening?? You looked at your wounded hand and back to him, not only confused but also skeptical and anxious. 

Flower gleam and glow. Let your powers shine. Make the clock reverse. Bring back what once was mine. Heal what has been hurt. Change the fates' design. Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine, what once was mine...

As soon as he started singing his braid started to glow at his neck and then the light travelled down, made its way through the hair that was wrapped around your hand and only faded when Hoseok stopped singing. The song should be stuck in your head for a while, that was for sure. Because of what happened, not because his voice was just so angelic and melodic, that would just be… Well, you were brought back to reality when Hoseok looked at you, gauging your reaction at what you were about to see. 

When you unwrapped your hand from his braid and looked at it you saw nothing. Literally nothing, because the wound that had been there a few seconds ago was gone, healed, as if it had never existed in the first place. You turned your hand around, holding back a scream, chest heaving with heavy frantic breaths, your heart was beating strongly in your throat, the fear and confusing weighing you down and only Hoseoks "Please don't freak out" made you catch the scream before it left you, pushing it back down and instead hugging yourself, rocking you back and forth and then talking rapidly: "I-I'm, no, I'm not freaking out, are you freaking out? You just have very interesting hair and the magic qualities that it possesses are very – wow, how long has it been doing that exactly?" and shooting him an insecure, forced smile. 

"Uhm, forever, I guess?" he responded, chuckling slightly, and truthfully a little proud that he had made you speechless, in one way or another, he had healed your wound and now you were okay again; he felt relief.

"Mother says when I was a baby people tried to cut it. Once it is cut it turns dark brown and loses its power. A gift like that, it has to be protected. That's why mother let me-" Hoseok sighed and didn’t finish his story. But he also didn’t have to. He looked so sad and lonely, you had the urge to hug him and tell him everything would be okay, but you restrained yourself and thought about what he had revealed to you.

"You never left that tower," you concluded. Hoseoks features expressed sincere insecurity and loneliness, he was so sad and also a little scared it seemed. The fond feeling was back but there was something that darkened your mood heavily: "And you're still going back?" you asked. 

"No… Yes? It's complicated," Hoseok had his face buried in his hands. You watched him and when he realized that your attention was completely on him, he pulled himself together, brushed his braid on his back, sighed and decided to turn the game around. You, too, had revealed information about yourself that he was curious about.

"Soooo Y/N Y/LN, huh?"

"Ah, yeah, well, I'll spare you the sad story of poor orphan Y/N Y/LN, it's a little bit of a downer, you know?" and you assumed he would just leave it at that, but he just sat closer to you, eyes on yours, expectantly waiting for your explanation to continue. And somehow you felt like you could trust him with any secret that might come up, so you continued. 

"There was this book I used to read to the younger kids every night. 'The tales of Y/Alias', swashbuckling rogue, richest woman alive, not bad with the men, too. Not that she ever bragged about it." Hoseok chuckled and asked: "Was she a thief, too?"

"Uh, well, no. Actually she just had enough money to do anything she wanted to do, she could go anywhere she wanted to go… and-and-and for a kid with nothing, I don't know. She seemed like the better option," you concluded, relief filling your body that finally someone knew of your secret that you had carried on for so many years and you felt good, and you felt that your secret was safe. "Don't tell anyone about this, okay? That could ruin my whole reputation."

"Ah, we wouldn’t want that," he teasingly said.

"Well, her fake reputation is everything a woman has," you responded.

When the small chuckling faded, Hoseok looked at you with that same expression you felt lingering in yours. There was fondness and feeling in there, there was security, confidence, affection and sympathy reflected in his eyes. And in yours. 

"Ahem, well I should ehm… I should-I should ehm… get some more fire wood," you snapped yourself out of your daze, stood up and made your way into the forest, but after only two short steps Hoseok stopped you: "Hey, for the record: I like Y/N Y/LN much better than Y/Alias." He said those words with a kind of serenity that made your heart flutter and your stomach do somersaults. Shyly you looked at your hands, kneading each other when you said: "Well, then you'd be the first. But thank you," looked back at him once more before receding into the forest. 

The disturbingly shrill voice of Gothel was the next thing Hoseok realized. "Well, I thought she'd never leave." He turned around in disbelief he uttered: "Mother?"

"Hello, dear."

"B-but, I don't… how-how did you find me?" he stuttered, Pascal had hidden on the tree they had been sitting on, taking on the same color, crouching, while Gothel went to hug Hoseok which, truthfully, felt wrong to him. He didn’t hug her back.

"Oh, it was easy, really. I just listened to the sound of complete and utter betrayal and followed that," and after a short moment of silence she continued: "We are going home, Hoseok, now."

"But, mother, you don’t understand. I have been on this incredible journey and I have seen and learned so much… I even met someone," he stated proudly. 

"Yes, a wanted thief, I am so proud," the sarcasm was strong in her comment, she grabbed his wrist and pulled at him: "Come on, Hoseok," but he pulled back.

"Mother, wait. I think – I think she likes me." Hearing that out loud made something in Hoseoks heart swell and skip a beat. There might actually be a possibility that she liked him. She, Y/N, with all her pretty eyes, pretty face, pretty heart, and pretty soul. Could it be that she really liked him? 

"Likes you? Please, Hoseok, that's demented. This is why you never should have left! Dear, this whole romance that you have invented just proves, you're too naïve to be here. Why would she like you, come on now, really? Look at you, you think he is impressed? Don't be a dummy, come with mommy, Mother knows-" 

"No."

"No? Oh. I see how it is. Hoseok knows best, is it?" she started going on, similar to the speech she had given back in the tower about how she knew better than him, now turning it around into that disgusting teasing sarcastic speech about how he knew better than her, quite obviously not believing a single thing. She revealed the satchel to him, stating that, as soon as you would receive it, you would leave him and run away, forgetting about him in an instant. "Put him to the test!" she concluded and left with a dramatic turnaround which made her cloak flow around. 

When your voice echoed over the place Hoseok still held the crown in his hands, so he quickly hid it in a tree trunk and making sure you couldn’t see it before you were back at the campfire talking about how you feel like you have superpowers in your hand now, only then taking in the state of Hoseok, clearly worked up about something. But when you asked he just dismissed you. You pondered only shortly and then got back to the super strength in your hand while arranging the fire wook in a pile. 

Gothel and the Stabbington Brothers were hiding in the shadows, waiting for their chance.

xxx

You woke from your slumber when you felt a drip of water on your skin and when you opened your eyes you saw an enraged Maximus standing in front of you, still soaking wet from the water from the dam that you only closely survived the other day. Instead of freaking out though you just shrugged your shoulders and said: "Well, I hope you are here to apologize."

Hoseok and Pascal awoke to your screaming when Maximus pulled you off into the forest at your boot. Hoseok hurried over to grab at your arms and pull you back. In a sarcastic feeling of deja-vu you were reminded of the scene in the snuggly duckling so you just hoped that this, too, had a good end coming. There was a lot of screaming and yelling until finally your boot slid off your feet and you fell onto Hoseok who quickly got up again to calm down the still raging Maximus that was about to stomp onto you on the floor. "Whoa whoa whoa, easy there, calm down, good boy, calm down," he said, standing in front of you, shielding you. And really, he calmed down and even listened to his commands of sitting down and dropping your boot. "Good boy, you're such a good boy!" Hoseok than exclaimed going over to pet the horse, finding his name on his harness and expressing how he understands that Maximus has got to be tired after chasing you for so long and that probably no one appreciates him. The scene unfolding in front of you was like out of a really bad comedy and you tried to not deem both of them insane in some way but you, too, calmed down and agreed on a truce for the day when Hoseok explained that, please, this was his dream, and also it was his birthday.

The sound of bells drew Hoseoks attention in and he approached the bridge leading towards the kingdom cautiously; you could see, though, that his excitement levels grew higher than ever. Even though you didn’t like the truce between you and the stupid horse, you decided to follow Hoseok, carefully plucking away the 'wanted' posters with your face and throwing them in the nearest bin. And whenever you and Maximus would get into a fight, Pascal was there, sitting on Hoseoks head or shoulder to signal the both of you to calm down. 

When Hoseok entered the city the first thing he saw was a thousand suns all across the alleys and houses, painted on pretty purple fabrics hanging across every surface and every alley. The many people walking around excitedly, hurriedly, happily and the rumbling sound of so many people talking to each other were something that Hoseok had never experienced before. Suddenly, his small room was eerily silent in comparison and he enjoyed the flowing energy that quickly got him even more excited. The first thing they needed to do, however, was getting his braid out of the way. It was so long that people stepped on it frequently, so they asked four little girls sitting by the well if they wanted to rebraid his hair into something more adequate for the event, and boy did their eyes light up at that offer. 

While Hoseok had his hair done, you were busy hiding from the guards, every time you did you earned a disapproving look from Maximus, but the truce forced you to stay calm. And although you thought you didn’t like long hair on guys, the braid that Hoseok now carried reached barely to his knees and suited him so well, you were smitten by his appearance, smiling like a fool, earning teasing smiles from both Pascal and Maximus. He shoved the stupid horse's stupid smiling face away and led you to a near stand where you stood in line to buy something.

While you were waiting, Hoseok went to the adjacent wall decorated with a mosaic, apparently displaying the current reigning king and queen and their child with golden hair and dark eyes. A little girl laid a flower onto the steps beneath and explained to her younger sister: "This is for the lost prince." The prince? Why did Hoseok had such a feeling of familiarity blooming in his heart? Quickly distracted by a marching band, he dropped that thought. 

And then you and Hoseok enjoyed not only the festival, but the city itself. You went groceries shopping, read some books in the library you bought a fabric with the city's symbol on it for Hoseok, hid from the guards, painted the floor with chalk (Hoseok painted the sun symbol on a purple flower bed with purple people dancing around the sun as the center) and when you were back at the big plaza with the mosaic, Hoseok started dancing to the music constantly playing, and was soon joined by many citizens who then danced a traditional group dance, exchanging partners frequently and at the songs climax, having you two ending in a couple's pose in the middle of the plaza. The applause and cheer was immense. 

"To the boats," was the shout of a man that got you out of you daze and into the rowing boat, rowing out of the harbor into the canal between the kingdom and the main land. The best day of Hoseoks life deserved a decent sight. 

The night had fallen over the kingdom and now, you and Hoseok were waiting in the rowing boat on the water for the first lanterns to appear. But somehow, he seemed sad.

"You okay?" you asked.

"I'm terrified," he answered truthfully. And you couldn’t quite understand, "Why?"

"I have been looking out the window for twenty years, dreaming about what it might feel like when those lights rise up into the sky. What if it's not everything I dreamed it to be?"

You didn’t know why, but you were completely and 100% convinced that "It will be."

"And what if it is? What do I do then?" Hoseok seemed genuinely concerned.

"That's the good part, I guess. You get to go and find a new dream," you simply stated, looking at Hoseok, smiling at him, convincing him about how good this situation was for him. And in this short moment of silence that you two shared, you shared more than just that. It felt so real and so right. Hoseok was looking at you, and you could see just how much he believed in what you had just said, you felt the weight lifted off of your shoulders, you felt free, you felt good, you felt comforted in his proximity and you were just hoping that he would feel the same. 

xxx

Hidden from the castle's walls, the king and the queen got ready to go outside and light the first lantern. It was a sad day for them. They only had one day with their beloved child and nothing had hit the king harder that day than the knowledge that he would probably never see his child again. He sunk into depression and only the queen's strength was capable of getting him to push through just another day in the deep belief that, yes, this ritual would, at some point, some day, lead their son back to them and they could finally reunite and be a family, once and forever. 

It was always hard to see the king be so defeated on this particular day. He didn’t feel like doing anything. He didn’t fix his clothes either, the queen did, handling him with care, looking up at him, reassuring, strong, and wiping his tears with her soft hands. He leaned into her touch, looking at her with all the fondness and all the love that he had for her in his heart. Although he looked tough, and strong, in reality, she was stronger than him. Without her, he would have collapsed, and all of his gratitude mixed in with this empty feeling of helplessness and a broken heart and created that particular look on his rough face that no other event could. But she was there for him, always, and every day, ready to catch him when he felt like falling. And only with her by his side, he managed to step out onto the balcony leading into the castle's courtyard where a crowd had already gathered, waiting to share another night full with floating lights with each other, stay strong, and support each and every one of them, especially the king and queen. 

When they stepped out onto the balcony, the already lit lantern with the sun painted onto the paper, was fastened to a pedestal, not unlike the one that the crown had laid upon. Together, the king and queen took the lantern into their hands, loosened it from its bounds, shared another glance at each other, and then sent it up into the nightly sky, following it with their gaze, hugging each other in search for comfort on this sad day, reliving the fear and the sadness once more. 

The citizens lit their lanterns as soon as they saw the first lantern flow and like that the row of light extended from the courtyard down the main street, all the way into the harbor, to the bridge, to the boats, until every single lantern was lit and started their journey into the sky, quietly joined by a soft melody playing in his head.

Hoseok had been concentrating on the water, drawing circles with his fingers, distracted, until he noticed the very first lantern light up, its reflection right next to where he had his hand. Did he hallucinate? Or was this the real thing? Was this the one moment that his dream came true?

He looked up and really, there was the very first lantern, soon joined by hundreds of others, illuminating the sky, floating around and it was so much prettier than it had looked from his window. Excitedly he jumped up, got as close to the edge of the boat as possible and gazed and gazed, in awe over all those small lights that, for themselves, didn’t have as much effect, but in this number, it was the most amazing thing he had ever seen in his entire life.

He started to sing accompanied by the melody in his head, recapitulating all those years where he had been just staring outside the window and he had to say that frankly, even his dreams didn’t compare to what he felt right now. He felt so at ease, so good, so comforted, so in awe and every worry he had had was forgotten in this very moment. He turned around to share it with you and only then did he notice the two lit lanterns that you were holding, with a shy smile on your face. He sat on the bench across from you and wiggled excitedly, but before you could hand him one of the lanterns, he suddenly reached back into the boat and retrieved your satchel that he had promised to return to you after you would have had brought him home safely. 

"I should have given it to you earlier, but I was scared. And the thing is… now I am not scared anymore. Do you know what I mean?" he said confusedly, handed you the satchel. But you just laid your hand upon his and pushed it back, you declined the satchel and instead handed him one lantern, came closer and told him: "I am starting to." 

And then you joined the composition; singing together, you two relished in the moments this ritual gave to you, you looked at him, he looked at you, and both of you were feeling so happy, so content, so calm but at the same time so excited, but never afraid. This was your moment. You had asked yourself if such a moment would come and now, it was here and you knew that this was the right moment, you could feel it in every pore prickling on your skin, you could feel it in the flutter of your heart, drumming in your throat, the somersaults of your stomach and the small tremble in your hands. But your voice was steady and your thoughts calm. This was the moment you had to tell him how you felt. It was weird, it hadn't been long since you two had known each other, but this felt so right and so good that you couldn’t deny those feelings that were pretty obvious even to Pascal who was sitting further behind, hiding his face with his hands, peeking through his fingers. 

And when you leaned in to kiss Hoseok he did the same. You were so close, so so close, when you noticed a weird green light coming from the main land, carried by two very familiar people. They wanted the satchel and they knew you had it. 

Hoseok drew back confusedly, "Is everything alright?" and looked to where your gaze had been fixated to. Quickly you explained that everything was fine, but you had to take care of something, rowed the boat to the shore, and exited, the satchel in hand, telling Hoseok you would be back in a minute. And although Hoseok trusted you, there was just something about the way you had taken the satchel that didn’t… quite seem right. Hoseok was worried but he told himself and Pascal that everything would be okay.

You held the satchel in your hand when you walked across the shore stepped over a fallen tree and turned right into a small camping area where one of the Stabbington brothers sat on rocks, waiting for you.

"Heeey, there you are. I have been searching everywhere for you since we got separated," you tried to distract them but they seemed focused on their goal. You cleared your throat: "Anyhow, just wanted to say, I shouldn't have split, the crown is all yours," you said, throwing the satchel towards him so the crown fell out, "I'll miss ya, but I think its for the-" you turned around and bumped into the chest of the second brother. "-best," you finished.

"Holding out on us again, Y/Alias?"

"What?" 

"We heard you found something," the first brother continued, standing up from the rock and throwing his dagger into the dirt, approaching you slowly, "something much more valuable than a crown," he continued walking over the crown and the satchel like it was worth nothing.

"We want him instead."

xxx

Hoseok was still waiting by the boat, clinging to it in a futile attempt to calm his nerves, his gaze focused on to the two rocks between which you had vanished. And when finally a shape appeared in the fog, he felt relieved, you had come back. "You're back, I'm so relieved, I was starting to think you ran off with the crown and left me-"

There was a second figure appearing. Something was wrong.

The two buff guys from in the valley were approaching him quickly, he recognized them and instantly realized, he had no chance. But where were you? What happened? 

"She did."

"What? No, she wouldn’t," he wasn’t ready to believe those ruffians. 

"See for yourself," they stated, pointing their hands towards a boat without light, a figure standing at the wheel and appearing to be steering the boat. Although the boat wasn’t too close, Hoseok had no problems identifying the figure as you.

"Y/N? Y/N!!" he screamed in hopes of you turning back and resolving everything, telling the brothers to fuck off and stay with Hoseok. 

When you didn’t, he was disappointed. Not only in you but also in himself, for being a fool and thinking that he had a chance with you, that you liked him back, that he could make it out here. 

"Fair trade. A crown for the boy with the magic hair. How much do you think someone would pay to stay young and healthy forever?" one brother asked the other.

And now he was standing in front of two monsters of men, with no chance of fighting, so when they opted to grab him, Hoseok started running along the shore, running for his dear life, jumping over a tree when suddenly he was ripped back from where his braid had caught onto a branch and wouldn’t let go, despite how hard and desperate Hoseok pulled at it. He was done for. They would get him, they would sell him or his hair and he would live a miserable life, being sold and pushed around forever. 

Two dull sounds echoed over, then his name being called, and when he went to look what happened, there was his mother, holding a stick, the brothers lying on the floor, unconscious, their weapons next to them. 

"Oh, my precious boy," Gothel said, dropping the stick and awaiting Hoseoks return with open arms, hugging him close, asking him if he was alright or hurt, stroking his braid lovingly. "I was so worried about you, dear, so I followed you and I saw them attack you and I-" she couldn’t speak further, her voice broke and she hugged him again, his head on her chest, her arms around his head, shielding him from sound and sight. 

Quickly she withdrew, checking once more if Hoseok was looking alright and said: "Let's go, let's go, before they come to," and hurriedly took two steps into the woods when Hoseok pulled back for a moment, watching you on the boat drifting off over the canal, back to the city. 

The lanterns were slowly descending into the water, the fog had fallen softly over everything, it was hard to see, but he clearly saw your boat disappearing, away from him. Here he was, stupidly fallen in love with a thief who stole his heart and crushed his soul. He didn’t care that his dream had come true and he had seen the lanterns. Quite frankly, this was the worst day of his life. All the trust that he had set in you was destroyed in just a few minutes. He was hurt. He couldn’t believe that you would do something like this, leave him alone against two ruffians to whom you had seemingly sold him to!

But he couldn’t hate you. He wanted with all his might, but he just… couldn’t. It was weird but the only thing he felt right now was emptiness. With tears in his eyes he turned around to see his mother, standing there, opening her arms and inviting him back in, even though she had told him to not come crying when you would leave. She knew. And oh, she had been right all along. He should have listened to his mother like a good son should. No, he had to be egoistic and stupid and ruin everything with that journey of his that was now in shards in front of him, not to be repaired anytime soon. He flung himself into the arms of his mother and quietly started the trip back to the tower. 

The boat that the brothers had tied you to had reached its intended destination, the harbor where the guards would spot you with the stolen crown in the hand on the boat seemingly trying to flee. You awoke startled, confused, then screaming Hoseoks name, pleading them to go and help him since he was in grave danger, but the only one who listened to your pleas was Maximus who had patiently waited for you and Hoseok to return. He looked over to the main land and when he took in your desperate state he knew that something was not the way it should be. And he knew he wanted to help.

You had spent the night in a cell. As soon as the sun rose in the early hours of dawn, the guards approached your cell, opened the door and the chief said: "Let's get this over with, Y/Alias."

"Where are we going?" you asked but as you got no answer but only a solid stare, you knew that they were bringing you into the yard to execute your punishment: you would be hanged. 

Your heart dropped and your hand lifted to your throat, imagining a thick rope around it. So you were dying, after all. 

Gothel and Hoseok had spent the whole night walking and now they were sitting in Hoseoks room, Gothel had opened the braid that the little girls had made and then raised her voice: "There. This never happened. Now, wash up for dinner, I'm making hazelnut soup~" she sang. 

It was Hoseoks favourite, but he just couldn’t get himself to care. He had lost everything. Just a few days before he was quite content with his life and how it had been, but now that he had tasted freedom and experienced trust and love, he felt so empty and imprisoned in this small room that was way too quiet for his liking. 

Gothel sighed: "I really did try, Hoseok, I really tried to warn you of what was out there. The world is dark, and selfish, and cruel. If it finds even the slightest ray of sunshine – it destroys it." With that she pulled the curtains closed that functioned as a door and left him alone, going downstairs to prepare the soup.

In his hands he had hidden the small purple fabric with the sun symbol on it. The only souvenir he had from this incredible journey. It was the fabric that you had bought for him. You, a thief, had bought something from a merchant and had given it to him, the one he had thought you liked. He had been trying to throw it away, but it held so many memories, so many fond memories, too, he couldn’t bring himself to lose it. Pascal was sitting next to him, trying to comfort him, but it was no use. He was just sad, disappointed, empty, and most of all, hopeless. 

He let himself fall onto his back on his bed and looked up upon all of his drawings to find some comfort or inspiration. He had spent so many years in this room, drawing and painting, so many hours and so many paintings he was proud of. Now that he had seen the art of the outside world, this beautiful scene at the canal with the lanterns, he just wanted to be out there again, not within the always same walls, never anything changing. It was weird. 

When he looked at those paintings, there was just a weird feeling rising. He couldn't find a better term, he couldn't describe it. It felt like something was wrong…

He looked at the sun symbol once more, eyebrows scrunching in confusion, why did it seem so familiar.

Then it hit him. There was one of this hidden in his painting! And there on the other wall there was the same symbol, and there, and suddenly the whole ceiling was illuminated with these suns. This exact symbol was hidden in every single one of his paintings. Now that he could see the suns shining back at him it was just so clear, everything started to make sense, because now, now he was able to summon a memory from so long ago, so faded, but he could clearly make out the sun symbol and he recognized two people standing next to him. The mosaic, the king and queen, their son the prince, with the blonde hair and dark eyes, the image of him with the crown on his head reflecting in the mirror, just like –

He stumbled backwards in this epiphany, hit a table and a glass shattered on the floor.

He was the prince.

xxx 

You were lead along the halls on the way to your execution, your hands cuffed, your head low. There had to be a way out of here, you had to go and see Hoseok and tell him how you felt, he didn’t know and he probably thought you abandoned him. You had to go and tell him the truth!

When you passed the Stabbington brothers you managed to get the guards off of you for a moment, get your cuffed hands through the cell and grab one of them by the collar, rudely pulling him into the bars.

"How did you know about him? Tell me, now!" you demanded.

"It wasn’t us, it was the old lady," he responded quite surprised at your outburst. 

You counted two and two together and realized that it had been his mother all along, that she was the one that he should be hiding from, she was the evil in his life, but when the guards grabbed you, you saw every single chance of saving Hoseok drowning in despair.

"No, please, you don’t understand, he is in danger, wait!" 

Gothel had been approaching his room cautiously, the sound had been weird, as if something had smashed on the ground. "Hoseok? Hoseok, what is going on up there?"

He breathed in and out, trying to get a hold of this information that just wouldn’t enter his understanding. At his mother's calling he stepped out of his room, mumbling as if to convince himself that it was true: 

"I am the lost prince."

"Please, speak up, Hoseok, you know how I hate the mumbling," Gothel said, clearly annoyed at his demeanor. 

He repeated clearly: "I am the lost prince. Aren't I?"

He stared into her empty eyes, her shocked expression and the moment of silence and disbelief a telltale sign that he was in fact right. 

"Did I mumble, mother? Or should I even call you that?"

All of the hatred and negative emotions he had bottled up over the years and especially the last few days now got themselves free, his expression was serious and angry, his voice cold and his eyes piercing. 

It took Gothel a while to react, but then she chuckled: "Oh, Hoseok, do you even hear yourself? Why would you ask such a ridiculous question?"

As she wanted to draw him into another hug, Hoseok pushed her back, disgusted at her proximity and everything that he suddenly knew she had done.

"It was you, it was all you."

Suddenly, Gothel got serious and her expression turned stern: "Everything I did was to protect you."

Hoseok pushed her aside, walking downstairs, raging: "I have spent my entire life hiding from people who would use me for my powers-" 

"Hoseok!-"

"-but I should have been hiding from you!"

"Where will you go? She won't be there for you!"

"What did you do to her?"

"That criminal is to be hanged for her crimes."

It was a shock, Hoseok couldn’t believe what he heard. It wasn’t your fault! No one knew but you hadn't done anything to deserve to be hanged! He needed to go and save you and tell you how he felt before it was too late! 

"No no, calm down, its alright, listen to me, all of this is how it should be," Gothel said, attempting to pet his hair like she had always done.

But not anymore. He grabbed her wrist forcefully, yanked it away and with an enraged and ice cold expression stated very clearly: "No! You were wrong about the world and you were wrong about me and I will never let you use my hair again!"

Gothel broke free from his iron grip, stumbled backwards and pushing over the mirror that was now in shards all across the floor.  
Hoseok looked at her for only another moment until he turned around on his way to the window to leave this tower and Gothel behind him, forever. But Gothel wasn’t done yet.

"You want me to be the bad guy? Fine, now I'm the bad guy."

Meanwhile, you were fighting against the guards that were still walking you through the hallways and you had wrecked your brain for every possible outcome, but it didn’t look good. That's when you noticed a tiny little unicorn figurine, placed on one of the sills, which went completely unnoticed by the guards. You remembered one of the thugs from the snuggly duckling collected these, did that mean that-

The door they were walking towards closed in front of them. Dumbfounded, the chief knocked strongly and demanded entrance. The look through window opened and the old drunk ruffian appeared, still drunk and asked: "What's the password?"

"What?"

"Nope."

"Open this door!"

"Not even close."

"You have three secons," the chief of the guards shouted and when he announced the first second, the guard to your left disappeared, and with the second, the guard to your right was pulled into another room so when the chief was about to announce the third second had passed, you were alone in the hallway, hands still cuffed, waving at him.

The door opened and another thug used his state of disbelief to smack a pan against his head, he fell over and lay unconscious. 

"Frying pans! Who knew, right?" Now you had a pretty good chance at getting out of here, you had the help of the thugs which meant a few fearless buff guys that fight until death if they had to.

The other door in your back was suddenly burst open by more guards and you were freed from your cuffs and then quickly followed the thugs that would guide you outside. And you almost couldn’t believe it, but it had been working well so far, you were entering the courtyard in which you were supposed to be hanged, followed by two thugs you glanced around, noticing the dozens of guards yelling and making their way towards you. The thug with the hook placed you on a certain spot and looked at you: "Head down," and put his head down, you followed suit.

"Head down."

"Arms in," he drew his arms in.

"Arms in."

"Knees apart."

"Knees ap- knees apart?" that one confused you greatly but you had no time to ask when suddenly from the second floor the one collecting unicorns jumped down onto the carriage and was therefore catapulting you, who was standing on the other end, up in the air, accompanied by your panicked screaming and yelling, not breaking your pose, over the courtyard, onto the outer walls where you quite comfortable landed on Maximus' back.

"Max! You brought them here?" your posture loosened slightly. Maximus just looked at you with a smug smile.

"Thank you. No really, thank you. I think that uhm… this whole time we just have been misunderstanding one another and-" Maximus was not impressed with your speech.

"Yeah, no you are right, we should go," you agreed, put your feet into the steps and took the bridle into your hands and let Maximus get you out of here. There were bolts flying around only missing you so closely, when you noticed that the one way you had was blocked with more oncoming guards and the only way left that Maximus seemed to speed up towards was the edge of the wall of the prison. 

And that was exactly what Maximus had had in mind. He sped up once more, jumped over the edge, over the canyon that separated the prison from the city and landed on the roof of a house in the living area, trying to not get distracted by your constant screaming and yelling, sliding down the roof and landing safely on the floor, immediately speeding up again and rushing down the city's main street. 

Now that the guards were left behind you, you could see a silver lining, you were out, now you could go and save Hoseok.

"Okay, Max, let's see how fast you can run," you said and boy, did he run fast. You were out of the city, over the bridge and into the forest in a blink and the trip that had taken Hoseok and Gothel a few hours was completed by Max and you in just a fraction of that.

Quickly you two entered the valley where Hoseoks tower was and at its foot you dismounted, and shouted upwards: "Hoseok? Hoseok let down your hair!"

And as nothing happened you attempted to climb the tower once more, but then the window opened and his hair was falling down, open now and not in a braid but that didn’t strike you as too odd, you were just hoping that he was okay, that his mother hadn't gotten on to him and that now, finally you two could see each other again.

You had reached the windowsill and entered the dark room saying: "Hoseok, I thought I would never see you again, I-" but Hoseok was crouching there on the opposite wall, hands tied on his back and mouth blocked by fabric. He shouted something akin to your name and then you felt a sharp pain in the right side of your chest and you felt all the energy you had before vanish, your knees gave in and you sank to the floor. Gothel had stabbed you with her dagger that she pulled out of you and made her way over to Hoseok who was screaming and yelling and squirming and fighting against her grip on the chain that was connected to his cuffs.

"Now look what you have done to her, Hoseok. But don't worry, dear, our secret will die with her. And as for us, ha, we are going where no one will ever find you again!" she claimed, working on getting Hoseok towards the stairs she wanted to descent with him, but he fought and fought while Pascal bit into the hem of Gothel's dress in an attempt to hold her back, but she just kicked him away brutally, leaving him close to unconsciousness as well.

"Hoseok, really, enough already, stop fighting!"

He managed to maneuver the fabric off of his mouth, fighting back again and shouting: "No! I won't stop. Every minute for the rest of my life I will fight and I will never stop trying to get away from you!" his breath was ragged, he calmed down a bit and looked Gothel straight in the eyes when he said: "But when you let me save her I will go with you."

But… he couldn’t be serious, right? "No. No, Hoseok!"

"I'll never run, I'll never try to escape. Just let me heal her and you and I will be together. Forever. Just like you want. Everything will be the way it was. I promise."

If he was going with Gothel like that, not fighting, not trying to escape, he would live a miserable life at her side, the magical powers of his hair never letting one of them grow old, or sick, and die. If Hoseok saved you right now, that would mean that he would spend eternity with this woman, obeying her and letting her use him and the power of his hair like she wanted.

Pascal couldn’t believe what he heard either. Both of you were lying there, close to unconsciousness, trying with all your might to save Hoseok who wanted to sacrifice himself for you. 

"Just like you want. Just. Let me. Heal her."

No. 

You couldn’t let that happen under any circumstances.

Gothel had approved with an ice cold piercing gaze, the last thing that she wanted to grant him, and her getting an easier life without him struggling and fighting against her. To make sure that you wouldn’t follow, though, Gothel took the cuffs and the chain off of Hoseok and tied one of your hands to the stair railing. 

The second she stepped away, Hoseok was all over you, yelling your name, taking your face into his hands, so close to tears. He brushed your hair away, caressed your cheek, and then slowly took your free hand off the wound to take in the sight of the damage which was pretty bad. The wound was deep, and you were losing a lot of blood rapidly.

"Ohgod, I am so sorry, everything is gonna be okay though," he said, about to put his hair onto your wound, but you held him back. 

"No, Hoseok-"

"I promise, you have to trust me. Come on, just breathe and," he said.

"No, Hoseok, I can't let you do this."

"And I can't let you die," he said. 

He couldn’t let you die, you repeated in your head. That means he liked you, right? All the more reason to save him. You liked him, he liked you, and if you could save his life, even if you died, you could die happy and without regrets, because now you knew. 

"If you do this, you will die, Hoseok," you stuttered, slowly drifting into unconsciousness.

He shushed you, his hand on your cheek, he looked at you lovingly and said "It's gonna be alright."

A moment of silence was shared between you two, a moment of understanding and mutual love. 

"Hoseok," you said, "wait," and with your free hand you reached up to his face, with your last energy you brushed his hair back and in one swift motion you grabbed all of his magical hair, reached it around and cut it off with the mirror shard in your restrained hand. 

Your hand fell to the floor motionless, the shard dropped next to it.

"Y/N!" Hoseok whisper-screamed, desperation evident in his voice as he looked at the hair on the floor, its color rapidly changing from the golden blonde that it used to have, back to the dark brown that had been his original hair color. 

The one shocked most was Gothel, taking in the scene unfolding in utter disbelief, collecting the cut off hair that was changing color, clinging to the few blonde strands left, screaming and yelling "No, no no!" repeatedly, watching her skin grow old at once as soon as the magic was gone along with her hair that turned white in a second, she rushed to the broken mirror to take a look at her withering appearance, pulling her hood over her face and stumbling backwards, further and further, towards the window. All of her live energy was taken from her so quickly it was overwhelming and she felt things that no one should feel because all the hundreds of years she had spent staying young were now catching up to her. She could feel every bone, every pore evaporate into dust, the pain was devastating as she felt her body age hundreds of years in a few seconds.

As she was close to the window, Pascal pulled at the hair so Gothel stumbled over it, resulting in her falling out the window, Hoseok grabbed in her direction, futile, as her scream echoed off the walls of the valley until there was only eerie silence and her coat dropped onto the grass, filled with only dust. 

Hoseok needed a moment to process what had happened. He then quickly got back to you, your body almost lifeless now, limb in his hands, as he took your head on his lap, his hands caressing your face, desperately trying to get you back to health.

When you coughed weakly he talked to you: "Y/N! Look at me, I'm here, don’t go away, stay with me," and out of habit he placed your hand on his now brown and short hair, started to sing, crying, his voice breaking off every few words. It was not working.

"Hey, Hoseok," you said, pulling him towards you, drawing all of his attention on you. And with all the energy you had left in you, you managed to bring out the words that you had wanted to tell him since the night before.

"You were my new dream."

"And you were mine."

And that was it. You could die happily, without regrets, knowing that he liked you back. So you did the one thing that was left for you to do. 

You let go.

Your body weighed a little heavier in his hands, now that you didn’t hold yourself up. He held your hand close to his heart, watching as your expressions softened into nothingness. His eyes were filled with tears, the silence was weighing down on him and you just lay there, unmoving. 

You were dead.

He put your hand down slowly and held your head in both his hands.

He kept caressing your cheeks, now slower and softer.

The tears were about to spill. 

And then, softly and quietly, he began to sing.

 

Heal what has been hurt. Change the fates' design. Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine, What once was mine...

It was difficult for him to keep his voice from breaking. The moment he had recited the text he laid his face so close to yours he could feel the rest of your body warmth radiating off and losing itself in thin air. His tears finally broke free, he started sobbing and as the first tear made its way down his cheek he was certain that he had lost everything he ever had. 

The tear fell off of his nose right onto your cheek. And what Hoseok didn’t notice was that it vanished and left a small shining sun where it had been.

From that small sun on your cheek, the tiny ray of sunshine ran through your body, and when it had reached the fatal wound, a sunflower made of light grew out of it, the music to the song you had sang the night before playing in his head, clear and hopeful, which was what made him lift his head from your body to see what was going on.

Light radiated off of the flower into every direction, floating around in the room, reminiscent of the night before, even accompanied by the same melody you had sung when everything had been good. And as quick as it came, the flower was gone, leaving a few rays of light emanating from your wound that already started fading.

Hoseok wasn’t sure what happened, but his tears had dried and with new hope in his heart he looked up, taking your face into his hands, waiting for something.

Just slowly, you opened your eyes, blinked at him.

"Hoseok?"

He couldn’t believe that destiny would grant him his dream to be fulfilled.

"Y/N?" he whispered.

"Did I ever tell you that I had a thing for dark hair?" 

He gasped and overjoyed he took your body off the floor and held you as close to him as possible, hugging you tightly and sobbing dry tears into your shirt, you responded with the same intensity, closing your eyes at the warm embrace that held so much more than just relief. It held promise and hope for a better future for both of them, and it held the guarantee that Gothel would never be back to threaten any of them.

This was it.

Hoseok was free, and you were alive.

And both of you were together.

He drew back a little, looked at you with so much love in his eyes. Then he pressed his lips onto yours. It was simple and shy, but it was the best kiss you had ever gotten and when you kissed back your mutual feelings for each other displayed, it was the most memorable thing you had ever done before.

The only thing left to do now was returning to the kingdom and bringing them their lost prince, but more importantly, reuniting the king and the queen with their son. It was about time that they got to be a family. 

The guard entered the kings and queens room hurriedly, out of breath, without a word, his face just lightened up and he smiled. They knew what that meant and without hesitation they ran down the hallways to the door leading to the balcony where they had started the ritual just the night before. They looked at each other for just a small moment, their feelings, their confusion, everything reflected in their eyes. But here they were, together, about to open the door and reunite with their lost son as a family after twenty long years. 

The balcony was empty except for you and Hoseok. The king and queen took in your sight, as you took in theirs. Calmly, like shy deer, the queen walked forward, Hoseok not daring to move closer as he took in the appearance of his real mother, in awe and unable to speak or breathe.

The queen looked at him, reached her hand out for his face, his eyes focused on hers and then she knew. When she had first looked at her baby, it was the same pair of eyes staring back at her like it was now. She knew. She recognized him.

This was her son.

And he knew as well.

This was his real mother. 

Tears started swelling up in their eyes as they hugged each other tightly, and when Hoseok looked over his mother's shoulder, he saw his father, standing and finally smiling a real smile again after all those years. He joined their hug a second later; Hoseok in the embrace of his mother, and him and his mother in the warm and safe embrace of his father. Is this what family and comfort felt like? They sank to their knees in their embrace at the overwhelming feeling that washed over them. It was indescribable, really. How could they describe the feeling of their beloved son returning after twenty years of worry and wait? 

You stood there, watching them fondly, as the queen reached out to you. You assumed she wanted to thank you and let her take your hand. Instead, she was pulling you down into the hug as well so that now the four of you were kneeling on the balcony, tightly hugging each other, and sharing a perfect moment. 

And well, everyone can imagine what happened next. The kingdom rejoiced for their lost prince had returned. The party lasted an entire week and honestly, you don't remember most of it. Dreams came true all over the place. The hooked thug went on to become the most famous concert pianist in the world, the other guy found true love, for the mime, you assumed he was happy, since he hasn't told you otherwise. Thanks to Maximus, all crime in the kingdom disappeared almost overnight; as did most of the apples. Pascal never changed.

At last, Hoseok was home and he finally had a real family. He was a prince worth waiting for. Beloved by all, he led the kingdom with all the grace and wisdom his parents had before.

And as for you, well, you started using your real name again, you stopped thieving and basically turned it all around, but the most important question is if Hoseok and you ever got married. 

Well, after years and years and years of you asking him, he finally said yes.

Okay, he asked you.

And you're living happily ever after.


End file.
